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^ZIFF-DAVIS

DIABLO II WATCH OUT: ICEWIND DALE

igt 2000 Sierra On-Line Inc. All Rights Reserved. Sierra, Sierra Studios and Ground Control are trademarks of Sierra On-Line, Inc,
The Massive Entertainment logo is a trademark of Massive Etttortainmont AB.

New races and character kits such as the Half-Ore, Beasimastet,
Undead Hunter and Assassin add to an extensive array of
character options.

www.interplay.com / bgate2

C an love survive the struggle between good and evil? This is one
of the questions you'll confront in Baldur's Gate il: Shadows of
Amn. Immerse yourself In a world of intrigue, adventure and
combat where the line between friend and foe is defined only by
instinct and a quick blade. You may discover why some vows are
better left unspoken.

^ The ultimate multiplayer experience In the sequel to the
Roieplaying Game of the Year.

^ Create a new character or Import your Baldur's Gate characiej
into Baldur's Gate 11 and continue the epic saga.

^ Encounter hundreds of different types of monsters, thousands o(
NPG and over 130 new spells In a huge and intricate world.

Sol'cej'ess

An expert in mystical creotion ex nihilo,
she channels fierce elemental magic
to serve her relentless crusade in the
struggle between Order and Chaos.

Vengeance Was Only The Beginiling

Visitwww.esrb.org I
or call 1-800-771-3772 1
for more info. I

NVIDIA

2000 Computer Artworks Limited and Virgin Inleraclivc Entertainment (Europe) Limited. All Rights Reserved. Virgin is a registered trademark ol Virgin Enterprises Limited. Computer Artworks is
smputer Artworks Limited. Evolve Is a trademark of Virgin Interactive Entertainment (Europe) Limited and Computer Artworks Limited. Interplay, the Inlarplay logo, and 'By Gamers. For Gamers.*
Interplay Entertainment Corp. AM other trademarks are properties Of their respective owners.

A New Breed of Action Game

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST

GENOHUNTERS ARE THE ULTIMATE GENETICALLY
ENGINEERED LIFE FORM.

GROW GIANT CLAWS OR FLAMETHROWER
ARMS, MUTATE SPIKES OR SPORE GUNS.

DEVELOP SHIELDS, HEAVY ARMOR, OR
ELECTRICITY WEAPONS DEPENDING ON YOUR DNA.
MUTATE SPECIAL ABILITIES, TRAITS AND ,{■

CHARACTERISTICS NEEDED TO STAY ALIVE. 1|

OVER 1 BILLION POTENTIAL COMBINATIONS! EVEN v
TRADE GENOHUNTERS ONLINE!

GET INTO THESE GENES

DNA; THE THREAD OF LIFE AND YOUR KEY TO
MUTATING BIGGER AND POWERFUL GENOHUNTERS.
NO STRAIN, NO GAIN. GRAB AS MUCH DNA FROM
YOUR FALLEN VIGIMS AS POSSIBLE.

GENOHUNTERS ARE CAPABLE OF MUTATING ON-THE-
FLY, TRANSFORMING BEFORE YOUR EYES IN REALTIME.
CREATE AND CONTROL UP TO 4 HIGHLY INTELLIGENT
GENOHUNTERS. NO 2 GAMES ARE EVER THE SAME.
YOUR MISSION IS TO DEFEAT THE PARASITES THAT
HAVE INFECTED THE PLANET AND SAVE THE GALAXY.

Technically loaded, Evolva is the evolution of Al
3D Sound and Ultra-Realistic 3D environments.

Evolve even further with

nVidia RIVA TIMTB

Screenshots shown using nVidia"' technology.

www.nviclia.com

.ConiPuteR

ARtWORKS

EXALTED HERO OR FORGETTABLE

That heavy feeling on your shoulders is called the burden of command. Get used to It. With real-time groum

. General Veers

^SSSeft ' Battle of Yavin, Battle of Sarapin,

' Battle of Ruul, Battle of Noth (wounded), j
^ Battle of Endor, Battle of Tatooine (captured). •

j 2nd Lieutenant Gorga

B^HIe of Yavin (wounded), Battle !
of Noth, Battle of Abridon, Battle of Coruscant, '
j Battle of Endor, Battle of Tatooine (killed).

1 Sergeant Krung

Battle of Hoth, Battle of Abridon, j

; Battle of Coruscant, Battle of

1 Tatooine (missing in action),
i

Endor, Battle of |

: Sergeant Major Corillon

Battle of Yavin (wounded). Battle of
' Sarapin (wounded). Battle of Coruscant, Battle
of Endor, Battle of Tatooine'(hilled).

Lieutenant Major Antilles

Served; Battle of Yavin, Battle of Sarapin,
Battle of Ruul (wounded). Battle of Coruscant,
Battle of Endor, Battle of Tatooine (wounded).

; 1st Lieutenant Spiker

SetVedi Battle of Abridon, Battle of i

Coroscant, Battle of Endor, £ .

i (promoted).

.;!e of Tatooine ’

ITATISTIC? IT’S UP TO YOU.

ttles on numerous worlds, you're Just a proton torpedo away from victory. Or defeat.

^AR. WARS'

FORCE COMMANDER

focom.lucasarts.com For Windows 95/98

Death can strike anyone.

For the right price.

You never know when death will come— unless you make a few special arrangements. Because once
the Hitman takes your assignment, someone takes a bullet. It's not a righteous way of life, but we all
have to make a living. Even if it means making a killing.

• Unsurpassed 3D graphics, weapons modeling and character movement.

• Full access to black market weapons, supplies and personnel.

• Stunning cities of the world rendered with superb accuracy.

• Al that defines the genre of the thinking shooter.

• First or third-person view with custom cameras.

• Stunning cinematic visuals and plots.

lOOS

EIDDS.COM

Take an inside look at the gaming
phenomenon that’s sweeping the
country, including a comprehen-
sive review, success-enabling
tips, and an exclusive inter-
view with designer Will
Wright — who discusses
guinea pig add-ons and a
massively multiplayer Sims
universe.

[rEATUils

Flight Sims

Authors Gordon Berg and
John Nolan forecast the
future of the genre, and it’s
entirely online.

Online

Baseball Preview 2001

Just in time for baseball sea-
son! A scouting report on the
2001 editions of EA’s TRIPLE
QA play, MICROSOFT BASEBALL.
OHP and 3DO's HIGH HEAT.

CONTENTS

■mi

im:1AII!l«

128

Social Leper Exposed!

The Sims ruin one man’s life

Strategy Games by Robert Coffey

129

Gaming for [five! dollars

Plus: Neighborhood swapping in THE SiMS

Homebrew Games by T. Byrl Baker

130

Smoking Barrel Be Damned

The ancient, long-lost art of melee fighting

Action Games by Thierry "Scooter” Nguyen

132

RPGs With Engine Troubles

Tech woes hurt role-playing

Adventure/RPG Games by Desslock

134

Hunting Games Rule

Plus: Fantasy Baseball with HOF players

Sports Games by George Jones

136

The Joy Of Multiplayer

Flight Sims

Plus: Hope for the Thrustmaster faithful

Simulation Games by Gordon Berg

PRiUlEWS

Icewind Dale

Forget them fancy,
newfangled RPGs—
Interplay’s Black Isle
Studios takes aim at
DIABLO II with a good-
old-fashioned dungeon
romp.

Motocross Madness

Lifelike graphics,
magnificently open-ended
play, and the most
painful collisions around
make Microsoft’s upcom-
ing dirtbike racer unlike
any other.

Independence War 2

Freedom is the key
in this sequel to
1998's Sci-Fi Sim
Of The Year.

COMPUTER GRMING WORLD • cgw.gai

spat, Cl

• MAY 2000

A HEW COIOR”

"Tte testesi! IP€ ^Wr fearr Iftme,!!"'

■ .: :ii}!i'ni PC. December 'y;-'

www.alienware.com

t;oli free: H C800]494k338S

AH major credit cards accepted. Pinancing now available.
aSSSB Southwest TaSth St. iVliami, Florida 33TSS

|36 BEnD.IViF

Early looks at
MECHWARRIOR 4,
the true X-COM
sequel, and ELDER
SCROLLS 3:
MORROWIND. Plus,
Brian Reynolds
goes real-time
while Intel races
AMD to 1,000 MHz.

IL-M

88 Nox

92 Final Fantasy VIII

118 CPUSIapdown

Two chips enter, only one chip leaves
victorious

120 Loyd Case

Loyd plugs into his rage.

122 Tech Medics

Our get-fixed-quick scheme.

124 Killer Rigs

Build a gaming beast!

126 Sounds of Violence

Three sets of speakers, rated.

23 George Jones

Our E.I.C. finds transcendence. ..and a sore index finger.

29 Letters

Read 'em and weep.

140 Index of Advertisers

Gotta pay the bills, you know.

144 Greenspeah

Why Jeff bothers to show up for work.

186

118

112

114

116

Aces High

Rising Sun
1602 A.D.

Dirt Track Racing
Superbike 2000
Mind Raver

TA: Kingdoms, Iron Plagne

Hidden & Dangerous:
Devil’s Bridge

The new game from the creator of SimCityi'

It's the ultimate test of your people skills as you create an entire
neighborhood of simulated residents and run — or ruin — their lives. Design
hundreds of Sims with their own unique personalities, selecting everything
from the look of their faces to the clothes on their backs. Then build them
anything from an estate to an eyesore. Let them live life in the fast lane or

Comic Mischief
Mild Animated Violence
Mature Sexual Themes

Environmental

pursue a life of crime. Watch them party like swinging singles
or make them get married and raise a family. Help your Sims
find success — or watch them self-destruct. Whether they
end up prosperous or pathetic is up to you. Once you're
introduced to The Sims your world will never be the same.

Meet The Sims at www.TheSims.com

©2000 Electronic Arts Inc. Tfio Sims, SimCity, Maxis, and lha Maxis logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Elacironic Arts in the U.S. and/or other
countries. Alt nghls reserved. Environmental Audio is a trademark and the Environmental Audio logo is a registered trademark of Creative Technologies Ltd.

Emergenoy transmission
recovered from Kushan
warship Veer-ka:

"Fleet has been compromised by
unknown contagion. 'Entity' is
capable of taking over otir
ships . No crew has..."
[transmission ends] . . j

^-iERR/{ irlSlB

X STUDIOS ■— — — if

© 2000 Sierra On-Line Inc. All riglits reserved. Sierra, Sierra Studios and Cataclysm are trademarks and
Homeworld Is a registered trademark of Sierra On-Line Inc. Relic Entertainment is a trademark ol Relic
Entertainment Inc, Barking Dog Studios is a trademark of Barking Dog Studios Ltd. ® designates
trademarks registered in the USA which may bo registered in certain other countries.

Visit www.esrb.org
orcalM-800-771-3772
for more info.

A new episode in the Homeworld saga

Coming soon.

^UriDEAD

You own the night.

Thief, Tliief ll:The Metil Ajc and the LooJdnj; Glass Logo are
tradeimrits of Looking Glass Studios Looking Glass Studios, Inc.
1999. BOOS, Eidos Interactive, and the EIDOS INTERACTIVE logo
arc fcgisMi^d tiodenurk of Bdos Interactive. Inc. ©1999 Eidos
Interactive, Ihc.Tho taiirgs Icon Is a trademark of the Interactive
Digital Software Association, A)! rights reserved.

I.OOKINC
O L A S S'

Clverything else
you have to steal.

pteal the interactive demo at
www.eidos.com

ID03

• Enhanced Dark Engine allows for a more engaging stealth cxpcrienc(

• Rdvanced Til system creates a variety of human opponents to outwit
• Sophisticated ncv\- tools to improve your success as a master thief
• Realistic environmental weather effects like rain, fog, and snow

H.11 you have is your stealth, your cunning and the tiirtc between dusk and
dawn. L,uckily that is all you need because evei-ything else is up for grabs -
as long as you avoid wandering guards. Use the shadow s as your cover.
Treasure the silence of your footsteps. Hnd enjoyia nice e^uict evening in
someone else s home.

Welcome to the universe of massive multiplayer space.conibat. Join your squadron online. Confront other civiiizations. Play free on worldwide
servers. Or fly in hundred-ship dogfights on Zone.com. Just keep in mind-those that fly alone, die alone, www.mlcrosoft.com/games/allegiance

^LLeEleniz^

CONQUER THE GALAXY WITH A UTTIX HELP FROM YOUR FRIENDS.

Microsoft

This is nd sold mission

EDITORIAL

No-Brainer

E very now and then, we witness a gaming phenomenon
so profound and transcendent, we know we have to put
it on the cover of Computer Gaming World.

The fact that THE SIMS is one such phenomenon became star-
tlingly obvious to me the other night. I couldn't sleep, so I figured
I’d just "check in" on the fledgling alter-ego residing in my note-
book. Right.

Seven hours later, the sun came up. I was still sitting at my com-
puter. It was 6:00 in the morning. I couldn't straighten my mouse
finger, and there was a permanent indentation at the tip. And I had
that funky, slightly depressed and hungover
feeling I get whenever I expose myself to such
a massive dose of computer entertainment.

Thank god. It’s been ages since I've gotten
extreme game-lock on a single-player game.
And man, did THE SIMS run me through the
emotional gauntlet. In the course of seven
hours, I felt:

Teirified. When a tragic BBQ accident
claimed the lives of Jorgita Jones and dinner
guest Bella Goth.

Weirded out. When Jorge Jones, Jorgita's
long-lost brother, arrived in the neighborhood and quickly became
a squatter in Jorgita's old haunt. Visitors cried mournfully beside
the deceased's gravestones.

Scared. The ghost of Jorgita haunted her old home in the middle

It’s been ages since I’ve gotten
extreme game-lock on a single-player
game. And man, did THE SIMS run me
through the emotional gauntlet.

of a dance party, freaking out Jorge and some of his guests.

GuUty. When, unbeknownst to Mortimer Goth, Jorge made the
moves on his wife BeUa. (Don’t act like you didn’t do the same
thing!)

Pissed off. Jorge simply refused to go to work two days in a
row. and lost his high-paying job as an Inventor. He got it back
eventually.

Manipulative. Befriending people just to move up the corporate
ladder doesn't feel good.

Indecisive. With tluee women and a guy vying for Jorge's atten-
tion, he needed to make a decision regarding a housemate.
(Eventually, he chose Chris Roomie.)

Greedy. Did Jorge really need the hot tub, mini-bar, and plasma
screen TV?

Shocked. One day at work, Jorge drank some kind of strange con-
coction and turned into a criminal. Talk about mid-life crises.

Excited. Gamers haven’t seen an open-ended, emotionally-laden
game like THE SIMS in a great while.

Thank you, Maxis. THE SIMS couldn’t have come at a better time.

/Ur 9"^

COMPUTER GAMINC WQRIQ • c g w. gam es p a t .com • MAY ZDOD

V « .

i flK

O 2000 30FX INTEBiCTVE INC

^^iiANK God evektthing’s not i'owered by V00D005.

With the world’s first full-scene hardware anti-aliasing and our proprietary
T-buffer '■cinematic effects engine, the new Voodoo5'“is the most powerful 3D accelerator card on
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RjUL-ScENe Hardware Anti-Aliasing;

T-BUFFER CINEMATIC EFFECTS ENGINE;

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Up to 1.5 GigaPixel/Sec.

Fill Rate; Tear through levels.

instantly sharpens and smoothes
the games you already own.

SURN THROUGH SCENES.

SO POWERFUL. ITS KINO OF RIDICULOUS.

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Savage real-time battles! Engage the enemy
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Reign supreme over the universe with the most massive real-time strategy game ever:
IMPERIUM GALACTICA ll-ALLIANCES. Wage intergalactic imperial war. Build and manage an
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y^muniY

Animated Violence

pRom Black^Isle Stuoios

Computer Gaming World

Game of the Year.

Vault Network

RPG of the Year.

- GameSpot

“Easily the Best RPG title
to emerge since Baldur’s
Gate. Direct Hit Rating.”

- DailyRadar.com

Hon/IEWORLD Expansion

I just finished reading the April issue of
your magazine and the article on
HOMEWORLD Cataclysm, i don’t
mean to sound negative here, but all of
the improvements and everything won’t
mean squat to me unless they some-
how allow a person to adjust the diffi-
culty level in the campaign more.

Jay

Powerplay —
tIUhazzuuuuup?

Can you guys give me some
help finding information about
PowerPlay, which you wrote
about in the March 2000 issue? I
am intrigued by this technology
but I can’t find any more informa-
tion on the Internet about it.

Thomas Routt

Powerplay is still in its infancy,
so there’s not a whole lot of
information out there about this
promising solution to latency and
lag time. There is an official Web
site however, at www.power-
playinfo.com. Check it for
updates, and sign up for the
mailing list.

Disturbing Trends

Having just read your review of
REVENANT in the February 2000
issue, I noticed a minor mistake
that seems to echo a growing
trend in the game industry. The
relevant quote is, “Rather than
opting for the ‘click on your
enemy until he dies' method of
combat, Eidos implemented a
combat-control system that more
closely resembles a console
game than most PC dungeon
romps."

Excuse me. Eidos implement-
ed? No, Cinematix Studios
implemented that combat system.
The most Eidos ever had to say
about REVENANT during its cre-
ation was, “Hmmmm, do you
think you could make it more like
Mario 64?” Eidos, like most pub-
lishers, is just a big company who
gives money to developers to
create games.

I could continue to rant, but
there is an article online that
addresses this question in much

Write to us at:
Cgwletters@zd.com
For help with subscriptions:
Cgw@neodata.com

greater detail than I can enter
into here. The URL for this article
is: /mvw.gamezero.com/
teamO/articles/features/futur
e _gaming_2000/part_1 _
page_1.html.

You, as the game media, can
directly affect this problem by
focusing more on the talent that
produces these games than the
money behind them.

Adam Wiggins
Ex-Cinematix Studios
employee

CGW Awards Redux

For years I have been reading
CGW, and generally find your
viewpoint clear and logical. Even
when I don't agree with you, I can
at least see where you arrived at
your conclusions. In your choice
for RPG Of The Year, however
(March, 2000), you left me open-
mouthed and in shock at your
blatant brush-off of what was
undoubtedly the most influential
and perhaps the best overall
game of this past year. Of
course, I speak of the massively
online RPG, EVERQUESTI!

Murray Allinger

UNREAL TOURNAMENT was a
good game (great to some). In
my opinion, it was nowhere near
the quality of PLANESCAPE;
Torment. I am the type of per-
son who prefers a well-written
story over flashy graphics and
multiplay. These things are good,
don't get me wrong, but given
the choice between graphics and
story, give me story any day of
the week. How I mourn the pass-
ing of the adventure game.

Stephen Lerch

It Tastes Like Burning

I have an idea for a piece of
gaming hardware that would
intensify the thrills of playing first-
person shooters. Currently, it is of

small consequence to catch a
rocket in the teeth as all one
needs to do is hit your trigger
to reenter the fray. Imagine for
a minute that as you recklessly
storm into battle to slaughter
your opponents, you experi-
ence actual fear. Instead of
force-feedback controllers or
mice, how about a device that
inflicts large quantities of
PAIN?

Maybe an electric helmet
that shocks the crap out of
you, or maybe a force-feed-
back vest that upon sensing
your death attempts to
squeeze the life out of your
chest. Make it costly to die.
Make those snipers pay dearly
for their actions. Give campers
what they truly deserve.
AGONY.

Now, I understand that hard-
ware manufacturers will of
course look at this and feel the
liability isn’t worth the return.
But I say, slap some disclaimer
stickers on the box and hook
me up.

Mike Paulsen, aka
Nightwatch

CGW Feel
Good Dept.

I have been reading your mag-
azine for two months and I must
say, Gordon Berg (Inside Gaming,
Simulations) is a HILARIOUS
author (no, he didn’t put me up
to this). I find myself savoring
the humorous remarks he makes
in his overviews of flight sims.
Despite not being a major flight-
sim fan, I think his articles are
full of promise and I believe he
is worthy of professional praise.

Adam Turok

Ed: We're sure he didn’t
put you up to it, Gordon. I
mean, "Adam."

Jeff Green, I Just wanted to tell
you (again) that your columns
are funny and right on. Your wit
and sel^dep^ecating humor ele-
vate the magazine. However, I
don’t like the final comments
that the editor always sticks in
to poke fun at you...you deserve
more respect.

David

Ed: No he doesn't

Reader lips

T his is my favorite controller configuration for any FPS game,
deathmatch or single-player. For the mouse, have Mouselook
enabled (of course!), primary fire for mouse button one, and
secondary fire for mouse button two. For the keyboard, use S to
move forward; X to move backwards; Z to turn left; C to turn right;
A to strafe left; 0 to strafe right; and Q, W, and E for any special
commands that are necessary.

The advantage of having a turn-left and turn-right button is to pre-
vent having to turn the mouse around so far that you almost break
your wrist every time you are back-attacked. I am doing much better
using this combination than 1 ever have in an FPS before.

Adam Bosen

I don't know really if this constitutes a hint, but in PLANESCAPE,
you probably know who Pharod is. During the conversation with
his daughter, you will discover that Pharod has a horde of
wealth stashed away somewhere. To get there, you just need to
go back to his court after his death by the shadows, and retrieve
his staff. Moving left, you'll come upon an arc which is in reality a
portal. Touch the crutch to the arc and you will be teleported to
Pharod's Vault. Search among the bookshelves for some goodies.

Secondly, to get a really cool hammer at the beginning of the
game, just go to the Alley of Dangerous Angles. Go to the ruined
cathedral and talk to the priest. Let him persuade you to join his
cause. Then exit to any place after that in the Hive. You will be
transported to the Player's Maze. Proceed to the left side of the
maze where you will find one of your journals and a weapon, the
Brimstone Hammer, To exit, counting the portals from the top
right-hand corner, enter the third portal, and then WALK back all
the way to the third porta! and enter it again.

Mike Ax

COMPUTER GAMING WORLD • c g w . ga m a s p a I . c a m • MAY 2000

@ 2000 MIcrosolt Corporolion. All rights rssorvod. Microsoft ort'

MSN ores

names menllonod heroin may be trademarks of the

r rospocllvo

owners.

FROM ERIH AND CHRIS ROBERTS, CREATORS OF THE HIHC COMMAwiR-AHD PRIVATEER SERIES

The follow-up to

“THE BEST BASEBALL
GAME EVER”

-PC Gamer

“SPORTS GAME
OF THE YEAR.”

-GamespoLcom
-Computer Gaming World
-PC Accelerator
-PC Gamer

©2000Tte3D0CtnwAli R^isltesetwtl.300, H'jtiHEatBascba! arffliara^CTirtlogtis.srBtiidBia'ksaM'wsefvairali elite 3110 Cmpjtv in tsUi and oSiwauaeiSMlBmOtolLKSftSM-M^Uigw Baseiall Plajss Assaaw-M^ ItcM BasebS iraderals an) a-'e

fi) I wj' Ff (W tr f« ii| pytarwi atl ihe PbySiaiion ioys are rqisafHl ra^ffaris Sow Eiwivnein Itt. Al Dfei «3(tonaks telofij id iheit fKpecDffi Bvnes. W. QUOTES REf EB H) HGH HW BASf EAtL 2000 1> 1998, feb fto-Mia P;

H'WW.^do.COIll

ANOniEY SAID THAT BEFORE WE I
AVEY OFFSEASON ACQUISITIO

The awards, the critical acclaim, • New Custom Leagues mode on
and now - Sammy Sosa. The latest the PC game to structure your own
and most-action packed version of leagues, pennant races and rivalries.
High Heat Baseball™ includes,.. . a|| 30 officially licensed MLB™
» Intense pitcher VS. batter match-ups teams, as well as the most dead-
and life-like base running, fielding, on predictions for 2000 MLBPA^”
and managing. player profiles.

» Stunning new graphics including • All new Action-Camera mode that
Dlayer face mapping, photos, body shows up-close TV style presentation,
ypes and body size scaling. Authentic • Up to 6 different play modes,
flayer and stadium animations, too. including Exhibition, Batting Practice,
* The most detailed Player Editor Season, Career, Home Run Derby^“
available to modify your teams' players, and Playoffs.

Visit Evei-Qiicst; an expansive multi-player 3D online role-playing game. Explore four continents filled with perilou
dungeons, eerie crypts and underwater landscapes. Discover thousands of items from the magical to the mundane. Ii
the new world of Kunarki“ travel through more than 20 adventure zones as an Iksar, the lizardman, or as a customizabl
character selecting from 13 different races and 14 distinct classes. Reptilian Monsters and Giant Scorpions make i
wise not to tnavcl alone. With over 40,000 players daily, that shouldn't be tough. You're in Our World Now.' ‘

PLAV EXtUUSIVEl.Y AT

The^Station-

Read.Me

The Latest News From Around the Computer Gaming World edited by jeff_green@zd.cot7i

Microsoft
Rolls Out Big
Titles, Big
Designers at
Annual
Editor’s Day

Big Guns at
Gamestock 2000

Y ou have to hand it to Bill Gates and company. The
mega-corporation that used to be a bit of a joke
amongst gamers is now a major force to be reckoned
with, with all-star designers on the payroll and a number of
grade-A, major-league titles on the slate. What’s more,
Microsoft’s annual Gamestock event— the official rollout party

for its yearly lineup of games— has become one of the pre-
miere gaming events of the year. This year's edition showed
Microsoft having a scarify strong roster of new games.

Leading the pack, at least in terms of sheer wow-power,
was MECHWARRIOR 4— being developed by Jordan Weisman
and FASA Interactive. MECH 4 stunned Gamestock attendees,
not just for the cool visuals, but for the promise of a
strong mission-based storyline as well as a focus
on character and narrative that has always been
central to the franchise's enduring popularity. The
game will feature 21 different Mechs— including six
that have never been seen before— and a robust set
of multiplayer options. Including the ability to cre-
ate customized missions, host your own servers,
and play cooperative missions.

FASA Interactive

also grabbed the
Gamestock spot-
light with CRIMSON
SKIES, the action-
oriented air combat
game featured on
the cover of our
March issue. Those
lucky enough to
actually sit down

ReaiLivie

MOTOCROSS MADNESS 2 Microsoft's outrageous, popular
motocrcss game vaults into a new dimension with better graphics and
richer gamepiay, thanks to the addition of a much-needed career mode.

Tchotchke of the Month

Tchotch-ke (choch'ke). Slang, from Yiddish: a
cheap, showy trinket.

T his issue's Tchotchke of the Month is
pair of fuzzy dice, and the only real
surprise is that it took so long for
this to happen. Fuzzy dice are kind of
your all-purpose tchotchke, good for any
product or any occasion. The occasion this
time is the DIE HARD TRILOGY, PART 2 from
Fox Interactive, which we know absolutely noth-
ing about. Is this a computer game? Who cares! All we

know is, these dice will look great hanging from the rear-view mirror of the CGW
bus when we go on our traditional Saturday-night joyrides in search of booze.

and play the early version of
the game Microsoft had run-
ning emerged incredibly
excited about this title,
which has a unique, tongue-
in-cheek storyline set in an
alternate-reality 1930's
America. The game’s flight
model is incredibly user-
friendly and will likely appeal
to a broad range of gamers—
not just sim-heads.

Chris Taylor, the master-
mind behind TOTAL
ANNIHILATION, showed off
his new 3D action/RPG

DUNGEON SIEGE. To the surprise of
no one, it looked as cool as the
outspoken designer has said
it would. Boasting a contin-
uously flowing world with
no load time whatsoever
between game environ-
ments, and an interesting
blend of RPG and real-
time strategy elements
such as waypoints and
formations, DUNGEON
SIEGE — even at this early
stage— looks like a real

contender to challenge
DIABLO II.

Microsoft trotted out two
other gaming superstars to
peddle their wares: Tony
Zurovec (CRUSADER: No
REMORSE), who showed
LOOSE CANNON, a futuristic
auto-combat game previewed
back in our November 1999
issue; and Chris Roberts
(WING COMMANDER), who
gave us a peek at his higlily
anticipated space epic
STARLANCER. And in a sur-
prise move. Microsoft
brought Relic's Alex
Garden — creator of
HOMEWORLD — onstage
and announced that

chicks, and UNREALTOURNAMEIMT add-ons.

The GOOD...

THE SJMS MANIA

It's the number-one game in the country and it's
likely to stay that way for a while. It also happens
to be a great
game— Maxis' best
since the original
SIMCITY. And just
when we were
starting to get a lit-
tle blase about it,
the game took on a
brand new life
thanks to the tons of
resources, stories,
and tools sprouting
up all over the Web.

Start at www.lhesims.com and go from there.

the BAD...

MORE DIABLO 2 DELAYS

Guess what — it's delayed again. Now they're say-
ing August. Don't get us wrong here, though. We're
not saying it's bad for Blizzard to take so long. We
all know what it's going to mean in the long run: a
better, more solid game. And we'll take that over a
nightmare like ULTIMA iX any day. What is bad. is
that we have to wail
even longer to play it
Diablo 2 looked great
at last year's E3.

Knowing that it is
almost assuredly going
to be worth the wait
just makes the antici-
pation that much
worse.

UGLY...

We are not prudes here at CGW— remember our
Vampire cover? But the announcement of the
“game" PANTY
RAIDER from Simon &

Schuster left us more
embarrassed about
this industry than
ever. Let's see: You
get to play as some
kind of mouth-breath-
ing moron, taking
photos of supermod-
els in their under-
wear to satisfy the
lustful urges of a group of teenage aliens. We are
not making this up. Yes, yes, it's supposed to be "a
joke." It's a "parody" of TOMB RAIDER-style games.
Right. We're sure the game will be loaded with
feminist subtext to drive that point home. Another
depressing, useless piece of shovelware from the
geniuses behind DEER AVENGER.

and the

PANTY RAIDER

COMPUTER GAMING WORLD • c g w . ga m e s p a t . c D m * MAY 2000

Read.Me

Morrowind Lives!

released some preliminary info and art, and launched a
Web site (www.elderscrolls.com) for fans eager to follow
the game's progress.

All we can tell you at this early date is that much of the
same team that worked on DAGGERFALL is back on
MORROWIND, and the company is promising the same
kind of gigantic, open-ended, single-player RPG, with
"hundreds of hours" of gameplay. The game will be in full
3D, and every single location will be individually hand-
crafted— no random dungeons this time. Bethesda said
that the world itself will be more cohesive than in
DAGGERFALL, but players will still have the complete free-
dom to explore at will, as in the earlier game. They’ve also
promised that they've learned their lessons following the
bugginess of DAGGERFALL, and are completely working
out every single kink in one town first— gameplay, combat,
spells, character interaction— before getting in over their
heads with the
rest of the
world.

That's all
we've got, and
it’s a ways off,
but we'll have
muclr more
detailed, exclu-
sive information
in an upcoming
CGW. THE
ELDER SCROLLS:
ARENA ran
away with our
RPG award in
1994, and THE
ELDER SCROLLS 2: DAGGERFALL took it in 1996. Can
Bethesda make it three in a row? The RPG field is more
crowded than ever, but this is a series with a rich history
and some hardcore, dedicated developers. Welcome back,
MORROWIND. -Jeff Green

Bethesda Finally
Announces Long-
Awaited Sequel to
DAGGERFALL

E ver since Bethesda Softworks
released its much-loved (for its
gameplay) and much-loathed (for its
bugs) DAGGERFALL way back in 1996, fans
of the Elder Scrolls universe have clam-
ored for a follow-up. The wait has been
longer than expected, even for the compa-
ny that took forever with DAGGERFALL.

Bethesda's been so quiet, in fact, that many
had wondered whether the company was
actually open for business anymore. The
answer, happily, is that they are still open,
and they are a good full year into the devel-
opment of the DAGGERFALL sequel, official-
ly titled THE ELDER SCROLLS 3;

MORROWIND. Although the game is not due until late 2001,
Bethesda has at least made the announcement official.

MAY 20 00 • eg'

COMPUTER GAMING WORLD

CGW PROFILE

Raven’s Big Bird Talks About
SOLDIER OF FORTUNE and More

Brian Raffel

1. Where did Raven get its name? Harbinger of
death? Bird of dark wisdom?Traumatic experience
with bird doo on a park bench?

When my brother and i first started Raven Software
back in 89-90, we were heavily into D8iD. Our first
game was an RPG, so we wanted our company
name to reflect us. We chose Raven Software
because it was dark and medieval. Also, my father is
a Raven.

2. What was it like to be assimilated by a giant com-
pany like Activision? Did you go from Schlitz to
Heineken?

Well, before being assimilated we ate mainly cheese
and drank sour buttermilk from the dairy farm next
door, being from Wisconsin and all. Now we eat
tofu, drink the best sparkling water, and I have a big
urge to get a cell phone. The best thing about being
part of Activision is that we have more resources to
hire more quality talent. We are freed up from a lot
of business responsibilities. 1 think if you look at
HERETIC II, SOLDIER OF FORTUNE, and STAR TREK:
Elite force you will see that we are doing our best
work ever after becoming a part of Activision.

3. SOLDIER OF FORTUNE — is the violence and gore
a bit of a touchy topic?

Only to the models in the game. Some of the terror-
ists, in particular, act up and get uppity, so we just
make an example out of some of their buddies with
our rocket launcher and they pipe down. We wanted
this game to be more realistic than others in the
past so that people get a gaming experience they
have not quite had before. We also put in the ability
to lock out all or parts of the gore, depending on
what the player wants to do. The final touch is that
the box is clearly marked "M" for mature and the
gore lockout has a password protection.

4. You have three
kids. How old will
they have to be
before they will be
allowed to play 50F?

I took the SOF demo
home to show my

wife. She thought the game looked awesome but
felt the violence would be loo much for our kids, so
I took it off the computer, I think SOF would be fine
for my oldest when he is 18.

5. Favorite gaming memory?

I think one of my most favorite gaming memories
would have to be when we were finishing up
Heretic and John Romero came to Raven to help
us test. We had just gotten the Morph Ovum (turns
other players into chickens) working and the first
person I nailed with it was John. I give him credit.
He was almost able to hide from me behind a bar-
rel. When I finally got him, the chicken exploded into
a pathetic mass of blood and feathers. When the
last feather hit the ground, I knew I was changed
forever.

6. You're also doing a StarTrek Voyager game. What
do you say to people who say StarTrek Voyager
sucks as a series?

I get my phaser and MAKE them love it.

7. Ever wonder if 6 of 9 is hotter than 7 of 9?

Actually i have wondered that. But when I do think
about it, this soft music starts playing and both of
them walk out and tell me that they must assimilate
me. Then I say to myself, this is a good thing to
wonder about.

-Interview by Mark Asher

_ Beail.ivie

Reality Check

If you're expecting consistency from the media, have a nice time in Beijing. The gaming press is all over the place,
which is great because it gives us a chance to gloat. For starters, check out the ratings for QUAKE III. Nice id pom
poms. But this month's widest spread comes courtesy of GABRIEL KNIGHT III. Hie most consistent ratings were for
PLANESCAPE:T0RMENT, and that should tell you something.

CBW

PC Gamer

COM

PC Accelerator

Gamespot

Gamecenter

(out of Five)

(out of loim]

(out of Trve)

(out of 10)

Age of Wonders

Sio/o

8.6

Close Combat IV

840/0

3.5

8.2

FIFA 2000

4.5

88%

9.1

Fllqht Simulator 2000

75%

8.7

Gabriel Knfaht Ml

80%

3.5

6.7

Omikron: The Nomad Soul

68%

6.0*

Planescape: Torment

4.5

g.o

Quake III Arena

3.5

300/0

3.5

9.2

SWAT 3

88%

8.3

Tomb Raider: TLR

70%

7.3

May 1985 1

In 1985, giris were I

girls and men were
men, and just about

everyone who owned a computer could
program it, at least a little. So it was natur-
al that game designers would create
games out of programming. The most popu-
lar of these games took the form of robot
battles. You designed a robot, programmed
its limited Ai, and then sent your robot off
to battle against other robots. CGW
reviewed two such games in our May 1985
issue, ROBOT ODYSSEY I and CHIPWITS, in
addition to announcing the winners of a
CGIV sponsored ROBOTWAR Tournament.
This month, the robot battles concept
makes a return in MINDROVER. Check out
the review on page 116.

May 1990

The past decade has j|||B7 'V.^j
been berry berry
good for computer

baseball game. If you compare our com-
puter baseball roundup from 1990 (which
featured STRAT-O-MATIC, LANCE
HAFFNER, APBA and PURSUE THE
PENNANT) with our roundup in this issue
(page 84), you'll notice one very striking
difference— graphics. II you wanted any
sort of statistical verisimilitude in your
computer baseball games ten years ago,
you had to go the text simulation route.
Thankfully, statistical modeling has
finally caught up with graphics, resulting
in games with great graphics and great
statistics models like HIGH HEAT 2001.

May 1995

Our cover story was l -

for a game that never j ‘
really was: Domark's ^ v
CONFIRMED KILL This
multiplayer online

flight sim had huge ;

promise, but Domark
could never pull it all together.
Fortunately, while the project died, the
game's concept promise, and program-
mers live on to beget a spate of new
online flight sims, previewed this issue
on page 80.

* indicates game has not been rated

COMPUTER GAMING UVDRLD • cgw.gam

«*ra7

RliAL NASCAR®

Take the checkered flag against 33 current and
7 legendary drivers on real NASCAR tracks.

RIEAL RACIN(5

Full race weekends means you gotta practice
and qualify if you want to race on Sunday.

'foroW®'S

RIEAL INTIENSIE

No feather foots here. Intimidate and trade
paint against other drivers over the internet.

ReaiLMe

The Latest Heaping Pile of Rumors, Innuendo, and Gossi

StealthMode

W hy did Brian Reynolds leave Firaxis to form Big
Huge games? There may be $5 million reasons
why, which is apparently the minimum Big
Huge Games is asking for in their discussions with
publishers. Reynolds is trying to go from 1 to 30-35
employees the fast way, which is why he needs the
big bucks, and $5 million plus is his asking price to
do a game.

While a warm and fuzzy Vulcan mind-meld might be
enough for Kirk and Spock, Activision hoped to embrace
something a bit more green-skinned when they shelled
out the big bucks for the Star Trek license. HIDDEN EVIL’S
out and VOYAGER and ARMADA are on their way, but
Activision isn’t stopping there. By the time you read this,
Activision will have announced another Trek game, this
one called STAR TREK: CONQUEST ONLINE. It’s a
turn-based, online strategy game based on the Star Trek:
The Next Generation universe. It's made by Genetic
Anomalies— the people behind CHRON X—
and features “collectible" pieces. In other
words, expect to buy digital booster packs.

Brutal. When Take 2 closed down an inter-
nal studio, Gearhead Studios (STAR
CRUSADER, HELL, RIPPER, and BLACK DAHLIA
on the PC, and BASSHUNTER 64 on the N64)
came in, changed the locks, and told everyone
to pack their stuff and leave— nowl
Employees got minimal severance pay (three
weeks pay only, for those who'd been there
four years). Artists weren’t even allowed time
to make copies of their art for their portfolios.

What a bunch of sweethearts, eh? All Sneaky
can say is, "Remember the Battlecruiser!"

Rumor is that not everyone at Cavedog was

\ /
W/- ¥

\ it

DIABLO 2'S AMAZON
Don't expect to slip into her
outfit until August

sorry to see the game company assimilated back into
Humongous. Cavedog’s success can be traced to Chris
Taylor, who left to form Gas-Powered Games back in
1998. Since then, AMEN and ELYSIUM were cancelled and
GOOD & EVIL is on indefinite hold. I’m hearing that some
egos at Cavedog were a bit bruised, and that shifting the
spotlight from Cavedog back to Humongous was wel-
comed by some.

Rumor ticker: Ensemble is working on an expansion
for AGE OF EMPIRES 2; AGE OF KINGS. We should
see it this summer.... Hasbro has been showing
their upcoming games on a press tour, and X-COM
ALLIANCE seems less playable now than it did at
ECTS. Meanwhile, a Hasbro producer has been solic-
iting fan sites for ideas for a MASTER OF ORION 3, so
that’s apparently in the works.... Bill Gates is expected to
announce the X-box, a TV set-top gaming system, at the
Game Developers Conference in March. This would-be
PlayStation 2 killer should ship in the third quarter of
2001. ...DIABLO 2 is now slipping until August, and several
Blizzard notables— including Bill Roper— have gone to
Blizzard North to oversee the final development
efforts.... Nels Bruckner and two other developers are
leaving Dynamix, which is not doing TRIBES 2 develop-
ment any good. What I hear is that Dynamix is
struggling with the bot AI for that game, which
is one of the untold reasons why TRIBES
EXTREME was cancelled... New World
Computing's HEROES OF MIGHT AND MAGIC is
being ported to the Game Boy Color. “HOMM, I
choose you!" Take that, Pikachu.... Rumor is that
Gonalo Lira, author of the spy thriller
Counterpart from Putnam, is the man who
penned the backstory for Activision’s SOLDIER
OF FORTUNE. SOLDIER OF FORTUNE is, of course,
the game where you can target and hit an
enemy in a place where it really hurts.
Gentlemen, I think you know what I mean.

Got a hot tip to sfiare? Tell it to Mr. Sneaky at
sneaky@zd.com. He's always there for you.

Spies Like Us

GameSpy Branching Out With More Funky Internet Game Tools

B y now, you've either seen or at least heard of

GameSpy 3D. It’s that nifty utility (it's on our disc
this month) that connects you to hundreds of
servers playing your favorite games. Now, GameSpy
Industries is bringing us even more cool tools for
Internet gaming.

Due this March (hopefully) is GameSpy Arcade, a much
more social utility than GameSpy 3D. With GameSpy
Arcade, players will be able to take charge of their games
by connecting to a giant chat server and setting up net
games as they would over a LAN. One player becomes the
host, and everyone else joins their game. It ail makes for
some crazy peer-to-peer action. Players will be able to
chat, browse the Web, and keep track of their friends. And
best of all, you won’t need any quarters to play.

But GameSpy Industries aren’t limiting themselves to
just gaming. They’ve recently released RadioSpy, and for
those who tired of listening to the same lame music

repeated over and over on the local soft-rock station, it's
a godsend. RadioSpy does for streaming radio stations
what GameSpy does for Internet gaming. Sign on to
RadioSpy, and you’ll be greeted with thousands of live MP3
streams, categorized by genre and run by Joe-SbqDack.
Want to set up your own station? You can SHOUTcast your
mp3s directly into RadioSpy, no questions asked, no fees
required. And don’t worry about censorship, either:
GameSpy Industries has made it abundantly clear that
they have no interest in regulating what can and can't
be played.

Oh. and for those of you who’ve been listening to that
CHRONO TRIGGER soundtrack over and over again until
your ears bleed, here’s a comforting thought: RadioSpy
plays host to a number of gaming music stations. In fact,
there's a whole subsection of game music stations to listen
to. Now, if only someone will convert the music from STAR
CONTROL 2 into mp3 format...— AJex Handy

MAY 2000 • cgw.g:

• COMPUTER GAMING UVORIO

Read.Me

Gamestock 2000

continued from page 37

Relic’s next non-HOMEWORLD game would be for
Microsoft, not Sierra.

In the sports department, MOTOCROSS MADNESS 2 had
the cynical press corps fighting amongst ourselves to play
the game {for more, see our preview on p. 58). And LINKS
2001 boasted an absolutely stunning rendering engine, a
long-awaited course architect mode, and a new profession-
al online league with prize cups in the $100,000 range.

Sidewinder Meets Sleeper

Finally, Microsoft trotted out three new hardware
devices: the Sidewinder Force Feedback 2 (with an on-

board power supply): the nifty Sidewinder Game Voice, a
headset for voice chat during gaming: and the Sidewinder
Strategic Commander, a futuristic device straight out of
Woody Allen’s Sleeper that functions as a left-handed con-
troller specifically for real-time strategy games. We weren't
sure what to make of this controller at first, but after play-
ing AGE OF EMPIRES 2 with it, we saw the attraction— it
will let gamers assign powerful macros to a single button,
easily scroll and zoom maps, and much more.

Microsoft is the last company that needs any PR help
from us, but as Gamestock 2000 showed, they're more seri-
ous than ever about their gaming, so what can we say
except, more power to them. God help us all. —Jeff Green

iia^ Heig h 2 ActiuislDn

Yes, we’re going with a new format starting this month. We know that game developers tend to use dartboards when determining reiease
dates, so we broke out with even bigger dartboards for the Pipeiine. Sometimes, we’ii nail the release down to the month, other times
we'll give the developers- sonie breathing room by using a general season. Also, we’ll highlight some of the more notable releases and
pass some preliminary judgement on them before the real reviews are written. Lastly, if you're a publisher, make sure you tell us where
your darts have been hitting, so that we’re not completely blind, okay? Send notices to: cgwpipeline@zd.corh

STARUNCER: After FREESPACE 2 and before
FREELANCER, It’S

hard to say il

where this effort . f

frarn the ^ /

PRIVATEER II / . ^

team will land. * ■

HIGH HEAT 2001 ; Sequel to our Sports Game Of The Year.

‘Nuff said. We don't even a

need get Into the crippling ' ?

rituals that baseball fanat*

Ic Robert Coffey goes : ~

through in anticipation of • /fi

thisgame. ..

MIGHT & MAGIC Vlli: DAV OF THE DESTROYER; RP6

grognards may be able

to look past the dated

engine, but the rest of

the industry is asking

■C’

for an engine that isn't

four years old.

COMPUTER GAMING WORLD • cgw.g;

im • MAY 2000

Strategically organize attacks against
enemy camps on all fronts with top-down
and first-person point of views.

Amass an impenetrable defense with Chaos
Torrents, Behemoth Rovers, Chain Guns
and tons of devastating hi-tech weaponry.

Enlist with a global community of mercenaries
and lead commando-style attacks deep
into enemy lines.

m INTERNETS oiuiy;

Buy, trade, sell or steal Jitter Packs and
build up your intergalactic war machine!

ReaiLMe

Little Green Men Spilling
Little Red Corpuscles

Y2K Is Going To Be a Bad Year for Alien Invaders

W ith two titles seeking to

expand and build upon the
legacy of CGW Hall of Famer
X-COM: UFO DEFENSE, 2000 figures to
be a very good year for alien hunters
and a very, very bad one for the little
mind-bending bastards from Mars. It
should be an interesting face-off. with
Microprose's license-holding X-COM
ALLIANCE representing the body of the
series, and Bethesda Softworks'

DREAMLAND CHRONICLES: FREEDOM
RIDGE representing the spirit.

X-COM ALLIANCE has more in common with RAINBOW SIX
and its ilk than its own soiuce material. Gamers will play as
the leader of a four-man squad infiltrating various alien
installations across several planets. At first glance, the
UNREAL engine-powered ALLIANCE may look like just
another Tom Clancy rip-off, but the design team is making a
real effort to duplicate many of the things that made X-COM
so engrossing. Every squad member will have special abili-
ties that will increase with use; you'll still research alien
technology; and the vulnerable minds of your team mem-
bers will still be part of the background. Slated for a Q3
release, ALLIANCE shows some promise, though we worry

that meaningless puzzles and other
shooter-type design traps could suck all
the X-COM flavor right out of the game.

Hardcore X-COM fans will be most
excited by Bethesda 's game, since the
original X-COM designers (Mythos
Games) are building tliis one — it's not an
official sequel the same way ALPHA
CENTAURl (wink wink, nudge nudge)
isn’t a CIVILIZATION n sequel.
DREAMLAND CHRONICLES: FREEDOM
RIDGE retains the classic turn-based
squad tactics and overall strategy of the original, as gamers
strive to liberate a future Earth enslaved by aliens. Instead
of buying weaponry and soliciting money from world gov-
ernments, the covert nature of your revolt will force you to
seize or capture what you need. Take over a town to recruit
manpower; liberate an ammo dump for munitions. FREEDOM
RIDGE is the first game of a series, and is being built to
retain the random nature of X-COM's firefights while still
telling a complex story involving humans, alien factions, and
those shadowy Men in Black. FuUy 3D with all the requisite
lighting effects, deformable terrain, and free-floating camera
movement, FREEDOM RIDGE is the clear spiritual successor
to the X-COM tlrrone. -Robert Coffey

Brian Reynolds Leaves Firaxis

The Gaming God Behind CiV 2 and ALPHA CENTAURl Hits the Road

T he news hit strategy-gaming fans with all the force
of a dinosaur-destroying asteroid: Firaxis
announced that Brian Reynolds, the chief force
behind SiD MEIER’S CIVILIZATION 2 and SID MEIER’S
ALPHA CENTAURl. was leaving Firaxis. Computer Gaming
World contacted both Firaxis and Reynolds to follow up on
this surprise amrouncement.

Kelley Gilmore, Communications Manager at Firaxis,
declined to comment on Reynolds' plans. Gilmore did say
that his leaving should have no adverse effect on the
development of CIVILIZATION 3, wliich Reynolds was head-
ing up. “Obviously we had to do some reorganization, but
the reality is that we have a pretty deep team here tliat is
very experienced in the whole CIVILIZATION line, Sid Meier
will continue to direct creative development, just as he has
been aU along." In the Firaxis press release Sid Meier
praised Reynolds, calling him a “talented designer,"

Firaxis has known about Reynolds’ planned departure
since December,

T his was just the start, though. It was widely believed
that Reynolds would form his own game company, and
that's just what he did several weeks later, announcing Big
Huge Games. In what is sure to be a blow to the develop-
ment of current Firaxis games (Meier's DINOSAUR game

and CIVILIZATION 3), three other notable Firaxis employees
are joining Reynolds at Big Huge Games. Tim Train— the
producer and designer of ALIEN CROSSFIRE, producer of
Sid Meier's ALPHA CENTAURl, and producer of
CIVILIZATION 3 — is signing up with Big Huge. Also leaving
is Jason Coleman, senior programmer at Firaxis and the
man who built their development libraries and coded the
graphics engines for their games. The third notable Firaxis
employee to leave is David Inscore, the lead artist on the
DINOSAUR project.

In a further surprise, Reynolds, who has made his repu-
tation on turn-based games, said that Big Huge is going to
make real-time strategy games. “Yes, turn-based games
are fun, but now we want to try real-time," said Reynolds
in an interview with CGW. "That is the kind of game to
which we are all addicted. We think we can bring some-
thing new and exciting to the genre. Clearly historical
games have been our strength, but we haven't ruled out
any type of subgenre at this point. We have a number of
ideas that are cool and fun.”

Reynolds also told CGW that Big Huge hasn't settled on
a publisher yet, though several have shown a lot of inter-
est. He said he wasn’t ready to announce anything on that
front. — Mark Asher

MAY ZCOO • cgw.ganiespol.i

COMPUTER GAMING WORLD

Bead-Me

Gamestock Trivia Cup 2000

Microsoft's Attempt to Stump the World's Geekiest Game Journalists

or the second year in a row, Microsoft kicked off its
Gamestock event with a gaming trivia contest,
which pitted groups of journalists against each other
in hopes of winning a lava lamp for each member of the
victorious team. Journalists were divided up at random, so
that the geniuses at CGW couldn't clump together and eas-

ily walk away with the award. Unfortunately, no one from
CGW ended up on the winning team, which tells us that
the event was fixed, obviously. Here’s a small sample of
what they asked. Get all of them right, and you win the
Geek Who Most Needs To Turn Off The PC And Go
Outside award.

What was different about the character of Lara Croft as she
appeared in the opening tutorial level of TOMB RA!DER:THE LAST
REVELATION?

^Which former head ofTrilobyte Studios was appointed to the role
of game designer at id Software?

LucasArts' adventure game tie-in with The Phantom Menace let
you control which four characters during various parts of the game?

^ According to PC Data figures, what was the top-selling game
aimed primarily at girls in 1999?

^Which' 'groovy" B-movie actor signed on to provide the voice of
lead character Jake Logan, in Novalogic's space-combat sim
TACHYON:THE FRINGE?

Q)The voice of Duke Nukem — radio DJ John St. John — also pro-
vided voice talent for another popular 3D game in 1999. Name it. A
bonus point for the character he voiced.

^ Poker expert Sklansky lent his name to a poker simulation pub-
lished by which company?

Q^Whicti two members of the StarTrek; Next Generation cast gave
voice to their characters in Activision's recentTrek game HIDDEN
EVIL?

Name the real-life mercenary who served as technical advisor on
Raven Software's SOLDIER OF FORTUNE.

Which former LAPD police chief was an advisor on Sierra's
POLICE QUEST series?

^ Name the three character classes you can play in the original
DIABLO. Score one point for each.

^ Name the four character classes in Atari's classic coin-op
GAUNTLET (not just the character classes, but their actual names
too).

^What four-digit number was associated with the Commodore
64's floppy disk drive?

^The original PRINCE OF PERSIA gave players three lives and a
fixed real-time limit of exactly how long to complete the game?

^ What cheat code do you type into DOOM to obtain all weapons
and ammo?

^ In Sega's classic coin-op OUTRUN, which make of car did you
drive?

@)What is the name of the character you play in PLANESCAPE;
TORMENT?

^The first role-playing game ever written by Richard Garriott, prior
to Ultima I, was called what?

SYSTEM SHOCK 2 takes place aboard which two stricken star-
ships?

^Which famous speedway track is missing from NASCAR
'Legends due to an exclusive licensing agreement with Sega?

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The Race to iGHz

Large Clock-Speed Increases on the Horizon

T he race between CPU makers Intel and AMD to
IGigahertz (GHz) clock-speed is on, and like the
race to the moon, both parties are hell-bent on
being first. Although both CPU makers dismiss the IGHz
mark as merely another checkpoint in the never-ending
battle for CPU supremacy, both are also keenly aware that
clock speeds sell CPUs. At press time, Intel appeared to
have the edge in passing that milestone first. In fact, as
you’re reading this you may well be able to order a IGHz
Pentium III. How long it will take your favorite PC company
to ship it is another story. Given some of the long lead-
times gamers have experienced trying to order 800MHz
Pentium HIs, IGHz Intel CPUs— though technically "ship-
ping"— may be very hard to come by, and very expensive.

At their recent Intel Developers Forum (IDF). Intel
showed a Pentium III running at a stunning 1.5GHz, But in
a display of spry industry brinkmansliip, AMD set up camp
a few blocks away to brief industry analysts about their

upcoming chips, and flout an Athlon running at l.lGHz.
AMD is planning on shipping IGHz CPUs by Q3, although
the schedule may get moved up to keep pace with Intel.

AMD seems to have gotten Athlon over some of its initial
motherboard instability issues, and has curried favor with
nearly all the large-volume system makers including
Gateway, Compaq, and IBM. Gaming PC makers like
Alienware, Falcon, and Hypersonic are also building
Atlilon-based systems. According to one Alienware official,
the coincidence of the recent shortage of high-speed
Pentium-Ill CPUs and RDRAM memory, with the arrival of
high-speed Athlon CPUs, has Alienware shipping the bulk
of its systems with “Athlon Inside." Alienware still ships
Intel-based systems and like the performance Pentium-Ill
delivers, but its customers have been clamoring for Atlilon-
based systems, and Alienware has been obliging. For the
latest on the Atlilon/Pentium-III blood feud, check out this
month's CPU Slap Down on page 118. — By Dave Salvator

COMPUTER CAMING WORLD • c g w . g a m e $p o t . i

• MAY 2D00

you were not fiorn noMe.
Sutiiour iesfinjj is to reijn as ftin^.

* Commaod your knights in menacing formations.

+ Dominate the worlds marketplaces.

Embody the spirits of William Wallace. Saladin.
Barbarossa. Joan of Arc. and Genghis Khan.
Listen to monks speak of thirteen unique
warriors and civilizations, all in their own dialects.

+ Achieve victory through conquest, economic
stranglehold, or exploration,
i* Find more glory at tuaitu,niierojofttotn/^anie5/aje2

^ Gaming

zaNC

ReaiLlVle

3 StarCraft Havas Interactive 5

3 Age of Empires II: Age of Kings Microsoft 5

5 Unreal Tournament Epic/GT 5

4 Baldur’s Gate interplay 4

6 StarCraft: Brood War Havas Interactive 5

33 Homeworld Havas Interactive 4.5

7 Quake III Arena Activision 3.5

11 Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear Red Storm....4.5

8 Thief: The Dark Project Eidos 4.5

Half-Life: Opposing Force Havas Interaclive...,

Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri Firaxis

Heroes of Might & Magic III 3D0

Planescape: Torment Interplay

Quake II Activision

Fallout 2 Interplay

System Shock 2 Electronic Arts

Final Fantasy VII Eidos

Baldur's Gate; Tales of the Sword Coast Interplay
Command & Conquer; Tiberlan Sun Electronic Arts
Grim Fandango LucasArls.

SimCily 3000 Electronic Arts

Freespace 2 Interplay

Rollercoaster Tycoon Hasbro Interactive

Aliens vs. Predator Fox

MechWarrior 3 Hasbro

Need for Speed 4; High Stakes Electronic Arts ....

Dungeon Keeper N Electronic Arts

Worms Armageddon Hasbro

Jagged Alliance 2 TalonSoft

Starfleet Command Interplay

Age of Empires: Rise of Rome Microsoft

EuerQuest Sony

Heroes III; Armageddon’s Blade 3D0

Caesar III Havas Interactive

FIFA 2000 Electronic Arts

Myth II Bungie

Railroad Tycoon II G.O.D

Total Annihilation; Core Contingency Cavcdog
NHL 2000 Electronic Arts

3.5

4.5

,„.4.5

....4.5

....4

4.5

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,.,.4

....3

4.5

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.,.4.5

4.5

.3.5

NEVy POLLING PLACE!

Vote in the Top 40 Gaines poll at www.computeraam-
ina.com. The more people who vote, the better the
results, but please vote only once per month.

P LANESCAPE: TORMENT makes its Top 40 debut this month at #14. A
strong start, to bo sure, but it's got a long way to go before challenging the
reigning RPG champ, BALDUR'S GATE. In other news, HOMEWORLD,
CGW's Strategy Game Of The Year, made a hyperspace jump to #7, up 23 spots.
Check in ne*! month to see if THE SIMS can shake up the top of the charts.

Tod Action Games

2 2 Unreal Tournament Epic/GT

4 5 Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear Red Storm

5 4 Thief; The Dark Project Eidos ....

4.5

Top Advenfaire/RPG Games

1 1 Baldur's Gate Interplay

2 - Planescape: Torment Interplay ....

3 4 Fallout 2 Interplay

4 2 System Shock 2 Electronic Arts

5 3 Hnal Fantasy VII Eidos..

Top Simulations Games

1 1 Freespace 2 Interplay 4.5

2 2 MechWarrior 3 Hasbro Interactive ... ...3

3 3 Wing Commander: Prophecy Gold Electronic Arts 4

4 5 Falcon 4.0 Hasbro Interaclive 3.S

5 - European Air War Hasbro interaclive 4

1 1 3 Need For Speed: High Stakes Electronic Arts...

5 1

2 2 FIFA 2000 EA Sports

3 1 NHL 2000 EA Sports

4 4 Midtown Madness Microsoft

1 5 5 NBA Live 2000 EA Sports

5 1

Top Strategy/War Games

1 1 StarCraft Havas Interaclive....

2 2 Age of Empires II: Age of Kings Microsoft ...

3 3 StarCraft: Brood War Havas Interaclive

4 - Homeworld Havas Interactive

4 Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri Firaxis ...

COMPUTER GAMING WORLD •

* * * *CONFIDENTIAL*** *

[ SECTOR 1 ]

The year is KfiOICS., and the world ie a dangerous and
chaotic place. Terrorists operate openly, killing
thousands. The world's economics are close to
collapse and the gap between the insanely wealthy
and the desperately poor has grown to the size of
the Grand Canyon. Worst of all, an ages old
CONSPIRACY bent on world domination has decided
that the time is right to emerge from the shadows
and take control. No one believes they exist.

The conspirators must be stopped from spreading
-GREY DEATH- . This vorlcl ia full of lies and
b'ftrayel , a vorld vbeze nothing is as it seems
and entire nations can soeuiingly be turned at
the pushed of a button. !rRI/5r NO ONE,

ION Slorm names and logos are itademarks ol ION Storm, L.P. All Rigtils Reserved. © 1999, 2000 ION Storm. Eidos Interactive and Ide Eidos .
logo ate registered trademarks ol Eidos Interactive. © 1999, 2000 Eidos Inieractive. AMD, the AMD logo, Athlon and combmalions Iheteol, ate-
of Adv.inced Micro Devices, Inc, The ralings icon Is a trademark ol the Inieractive Digital Soltware Association.

III. BREAKING THE OATH :

TRUTH AND CONSEQUENCES XggMSBCK«i»gK&

1 . A verbal warning accompanied by a review of
security oath.

2. A stronger warning, sometimes accompanied by
browbeating jCDCttiOlctotgtciEOfK . and intimidation.

3. Psychologically working on an individual to
bring on depression that will lead to suicide.

4. Elimination of the individual that has been made
to appear as an accident, suicide or heart attack

Sources say Deus Bx was created by Ion Storm to uncover the
truth. Some say it's merely the latest conspiracy fueled by
a madman. And some say it's a future training tool made to
look like a hyperrealistic 3-D roleplaying computer game.
Whatever it is, proceed with caution. They know you want it.

No. 34561

TROTH

o Fight terrorists,

as ordered by UNATCO,
ho maintain control over

o Survive constant attack
and/or incarceration
as you establish ties
to a new ally base.

IDOS

JOIN THE CONSPIRACY

at deusex.com

AMD^

o Send any and all information to
www.unatco.coin. It could be the
difference between life and death.

> Establish a new base of

operations with '

and forgo alliances.

o 5'.ind a way to build your own
capabilities to che point where
you have a chance of defeating
the one with God-like powers.

CONSEQUENCES:

I ^

'.Jt-

1.525 6362

S'ig , 2.6 Expand
your pool of allies

Diagram B2 Situaiional Missions (Fig. ‘s 2. 1-2.6)

QUESTION EUERYTHING.

B lack Isle Studios isn't just on a roll these days—
they're on a dlOO roll with a +10 bonus to all
attacks. (Sorry.) Interplay'.s RPG group, created out
of thin air a few years ago during role-playing's mo.st
notorious slump, has, to everyone's surprise, emerged as
perhaps the dominant RPG maker in computer gaming
today— eclipsing the achievements of RPG heavyweights
like New World Computing and Origin. If you think that’s
a bit hyperbolic, consider this: They have now won
CGWs (and many other publications') RPG Of The Year
award three years in a row- -for FALLOUT in 1997,
BALDUR’S GATE (through Bioware) in 1998. and
PLANESCAPE: TORMENT in 1999. And they show no
signs of slowing down.

While everyone waits for Bioware's highly anticipated
BALDUR’S GATE 2, Black Isle hopes to satiate their fantasy
RPG fans with ICEWIND DALE— a straight-up, old-fash-
ioned, hack-and-slash dungeon romp set in Dungeons and
Dragons' Forgotten Realms universe. Yeah, you can go
ahead and say the "D” word (DIABLO)- -Black Isle won't
deny the obvious influence. In fact, the looming, gigantic
presence of DIABLO 2 is a very good reason why you’ll
probably see ICEWIND DALE sooner, rather than later—
they want to beat Blizzard's monster out the door.

Shut Dp and Fiqht

Unlike their thjee previous RPGs, there is no central
hero to ICEWIND DALE. As in the classic RPGs of yore,
you’ll start the gam^e by creating your entire party (up to
six characters), and the game will open in a pub where
the adventurers are hanging out, looking for a good epic
story to get mixed up in. It’s the classic D&D setup.

You’ll begin the game in Easthaven, one of the “Ten
Towns" of the Icewind Dale region m the far northwest
tip of the world, and soon find yourself joining an expedi-
tion to the mountain-pass town of Kuldahar, where you
must help fight (what else?) a great evil plaguing the
area. From Kuldahar, a number of guests will branch out
around the Spine of the World mnnntam range- and
Black Isle is still keeping quiet about what the larger plot
points will be here.

Perhaps the main thing to note, however, is that
though there is a story here, the emphasis is nor on plot
or dialogue, but on combat. Dialogue is largely going to
be need to drive you forward to the next combat situa-
tion— there won't be a lot of random yammering going
on. Just to give you something to compare it to, ICEWIND
DALE is going to have about 250,000 words of dialogue,
compared to BALDUR’S GATE’S 500,000 and PLANESCAPE:

NEED A RUN KEY You'll

Icewind

Dale

Black Isle Studios ServesUpar^D^

Hack-and-Slash RPG

of your time in ICEWIND DAIi
Sanctuary,

MAY 2000 • cgw.gamespol.CDin • COMPUTER GAMING WORLD

ROLE-PLAYIIMG

Tltis is a concept
sketch showing a great forge located in some
ruins found later in the game.

TORMENT’S 900,000, '‘We want people out killing every-
thing they see," said associate producer Darren
Monahan, “not sitting and flapping all day." On the
other hand, role-players shouldn't worry that dialogue is
totally superfluous or superficial~it isn’t. There will be
different dialogue options depending on alignment, sex,
class, and race, and how you choose to respond could
affect how certain conversations and quests play out.

While BALDUR'S GATE was set in a largely undevel-
oped area of the Forgotten Realms, Icewind Dale is one
of most well-known areas, thanks to a number of best-
selling books by Robert Salvatore. But Black Isle was
only granted the use of the Icewind Dale setting
because they were promising a plot-light dungeon
romp, thus ensuring that the game wouldn’t mess with
any official continuity. Thus, hardcore fans should know
that the game will not feature any of the major charac-
ters from the book, such as the ever-popular dark elf
Drizzt, or Wulfgar the Barbarian. And just to make sure
we’re all clear on that, Black Isle set the game in the
year 1281, a full 16 years before the first recorded men-
tion of Drizzt.

Rules of the Game

As far as the gameplay goes, those familiar with
BALDUR’S GATE will be right at home
here— expect no big changes or sur-
prises this time around. Icewind DALE
will use Bioware's Infinity engine with
a few minor modifications (some creat-
ed by Bioware for BALDUR’S GATE 2)—
including a “bumping" technology that
should help eliminate some patlifind-
ing problems, an accelerated walking
speed (you won’t be able to run, as in
PLANESCAPE), the ability to rest your
party until fully healed, and integrated
Mplayer matching support for multi-
player games.

Black Isle has also made a couple
subtle modifications to the interface
that may go unnoticed by many, but
will be greatly appreciated by those
who obsessed over BALDUR’S GATE.

The Rest button has been unburied
and moved to the main screen; the
Guard button has been removed
(since, apparently, no one used it in
BALDUR’S GATE) ; and dialogue is
going to float above the characters as
in PLANESCAPE.

Combat is going to use fundamental-
ly the same system— there's just going
to be a lot more of it. As Chris Parker—

ICEWIND Dale’s producer — described
the game, "You're either going to be in
a fight or licking your wounds," and he
estimated that well over 90 percent of
the game takes place in the dungeons
themselves. The biggest change to
combat actually occurs at the character
creation stage. lAIeapons proficiency
has been altered to more closely reflect
the AD&D Second Edition rules, which
have you optionally assign your character a proficiency
in a specific weapon, rather than a general class of
weapons as in BALDUR’S GATE. This should add greater
strategic depth to the combat, as should Black Isle’s
promise of smarter monsters, who will use terrain to

You Got a Purty ll/Iouth

The artwork was still in progress
when I checked out the game, but
what I saw— some dungeons, charac-
ter portraits, and other background
art— revealed that the game is going to
easily live up to the high standards set
by the earlier games, with the same
combination of meticulously rendered
backgrounds and lovingly painted
high-fantasy portraits. Expect to see
lots of ice- and snow-covered moun-
tainsides, along with geothermal
caves, ancient crypts, ruined Elven
towers, and Dwarven keeps— all the
stuff that keeps fantasy fans up way
too late at night.

ICEWIND DALE, with its complex
gaming system rooted in AD&D, its
already-proven engine, and its meticu-
lous artwork, is far more than just a
DIABLO clone— and may in fact be that deeper, more
hardcore hack-and-slash experience that many gamers
have lusted after. Will it rise to the level of quality estab-
lished by the other Black Isle RPGs? Hope for s ome g ood
dice roils when the game ships later tliis year,

their advantage.

At the moment. Black Isle is saying
that there will be around forty new
spells in the game. In addition, the
experience cap is currently set at
about 1.8 million points, which will let
your characters grow to between Level
14 to 16, depending on class (all char-
aaers will start at Level 1).

COMPUTER GAMING UVORIO • cgw.gamespot.com • MAY 2QQ0

/(I-WAVS^

Visit <iWiw.esrb.org
or call 1-800-771-3772
for more info.

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Edna? How’d you
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mEgor offensive!

“ACTION GAME OF THE YEAR”

- GAMESPOT, WELL-ROUNDED ENTERTAINMENT

“MULTIPLAYER GAME OF THE YEAR”

- C/NET GAMECENTER

“★★★★★ (OUT OF 5)...UNREAL TOURNAMENT HAS
HAD US ADDICTED LIKE CRACKHEADS ON PAYDAY”

- COMPUTER GAMING WORLD

“UNREAL TOURNAMENT IS THE MOST COMPLETE
FIRST-PERSON SHOOTER AVAILABLE”

- GAMESPOT

“WHETHER YOU'RE NEW TO THE GENRE OR A SHOOTER VET
LOOKING FOR NEW THRILLS, UNREAL TOURNAMENT HAS
EVERYTHING YOU NEED”

-CNN

“UNREAL TOURNAMENT IS GETTING THE HIGHEST SCORE
THAT IGN HAS EVER GIVEN A GAME”

- IGN.COM

“★★★★★ (OUT OF 5)...THIS IS A GAME THAT SHOULD BE
CRAMMED INTO STOCKINGS EVERYWHERE”

- COMPUTER GAMES ONLINE

Unreal' Toumamenl O 1999 Epic Gamei, Inc. *11 Rishts Reserved, Created by Epic Games, Inc. In collaboration with Digital Exiremes. Published and distributed by GT Interactive Soitvrare torp. GT is a iradwaik
and the GT logo ha registered trademark of GT Interactive Software Corp. Unreal and the Unreal logos are trademarks of Epic Games, Inc MPlayct and theMPIayer logos are trademarks of MPlayor Interactive. Inc.

COMPUTER GAMING WORLD,

GAMESPY, GAMEVORTEX, MPOG.COM,
SHARKY EXTREME, CHUCK ROCK UVE!

Motocross
adness 2

roadblocks just to find a quicker route between gates—
an interesting new wrinkle to be sure, especially when
some Enduros are stocked with upwards of 100,000
individual trees, and each of them with a polygon count
of 150-300.

To better analyze and improve your ride, the game
offers a pair of new utilities; a VCR-type replay suite,
and an innovative ghost-racing mode that records each
consecutive fastest lap and then replays it immediately
for your riding pleasure. Satisfied racers can then send
their finest ghost laps to friends for what is essentially
a delayed multiplayer mode, or they can simply pass
along their most horrific accidents. To sweeten the pot,
Rinard says MADNESS 2 will offer even more broken-
boned hilarity than the first, with "gut- wrenching ani-
mations that should make you wince as you laugh. ”

Rainbow has also made serious moves to enhance the
aural experience of MADNESS, wiring real-life
motocross rider Stephane Roncada (see sidebar) and
recording the sound of a true built-for-racing bike in
the heat of action. Rinard recounts, “We put thousand-
dollar Sennheiser microphones in backpacks, on the
suspension, on the handlebars, under the seat, and
everywhere else on Stephane and his bike. Many
microphones were crunched and some were destroyed,
but on our eleventh multi-day trip into the desert, we
finally got it. I think this is the best engine sound in
any racing game ever.”

PREVIEW

I Rainbow Studios Gets Down
and Dirty With Hotly
I Anticipated Sequel

by Gord Goble

hen MOTOCROSS MADNESS left
the gates back in the summer of
'98, PC riders were suddenly
faced with a whole new concept— free-
dom. Freedom to race through point-to-
point or closed-course circuits, freedom to
explore the world outside the designated
track, and freedom to forsake the racing
altogether and embark upon a trick-turning
orgy to put Heidi Fleiss to shame. It was
dirt bike action on a grand and muddy
scale, and it's coming at us once more in this summer's
hotly anticipated follow-up, MOTOCROSS MADNESS 2.

Again developed by Phoenix-based media production
house Rainbow Studios, Microsoft’s latest journey into
high-flying motocross action promises to dramatically
advance the sensory experience while adhering to the
"simulation meets arcade” flavor of the first title. To
that end. Rainbow has designed the entire game in-
house, with virtually all original design-team members.

Certainly MADNESS 2 promises to be nothing if not
comprehensive, with larger environments than the orig-
inal, more tracks (48 in all), more events (a total of 64),
new exploration-style “Enduro” racing, authentic
motocross

GENRE: Racino • RELEASE DATE: June 2000
PUBLISKEH; Microsolt

Pro Circuit
mode that will

DEVELOPER: Rainbow Studios

guide riders
through an

CONTACT: www.miGrosoft.coni/Qames/mQtocniss2/

entire career

and 40 individual events. But the big news out of
Rainbow can be expressed in one word: Graphics.

According to MADNESS lead designer Robb Rinard,
the days of barren landscapes are a thing of the past.
This time around, environments will feature "terrain
with the illusion of one-half inch resolution” and up to
"nine times as much raw geometry data than in the
first game, where we had a huge terrain, but no sense
of being in a particular place. Now we have entire eco-
systems, ranging from forest to desert to tropical loca-
tions, each with numerous settings such as farms and
trailer parks inside them.”

And those new landscapes aren't merely for show,
either. MADNESS 2 will introduce fully-interactive ele-
ments such as animated freight trains and missile
silos— items that must be operated or otherwise dealt
with by the rider. In Enduro racing, gamers can expect
to pick their way through forests and other natural

MAY 200D • CQuv.g:

• COMPUTER GRMINC VUORID

TRAINS, PLANES, AND MOTORCYCLES MOTOCROSS MADNESS 2
will be packed with enough animated objects and environmental obstacles
to keep virtual riders constantly busy.

PREVIEW

STEPHANE
RONCADA

20-year-old Stephana
Roncada is one of those
guys who knows no limi-
tations. A dirt bike rider
since the impossibly
young age of five,

Stephaneleft his native

France in 1997 to seek motocross fame and fortune in the U.S.

And he's done just that— the Yamaha of Troy rider has managed
to keep himself at or near the top of the championship standings
in each of his first three years on the grueling 125cc Supercross
and National Championship circuits.

Yet Roncada doesn't confine his love for the sport to the track.

An ardent gamer, he was immediately taken with the original
MOTOCROSS MADNESS, and in particular its course-generation
utility. One year and dozens of self-designed tracks later,

Roncada set out to meet the Rainbow Studios team at last sum-
mer's E3. He immediately hit it off with Rainbow senior designer
Robb Rinard, who picks up the story from there.

“Stephane was very interested in becoming involved, and his
role in MOTOCROSS MAONESS 2 has become absolutely huge.

He's designed every one of the Supercross tracks and five of the
National tracks in the new game, using Photo Shop and 3D
Studio MAX. He's an utter prodigy. He has this ability to see the
entire track in his head, and then to design obvious lines and
hidden, faster lines that allow you to better set up for the sec-
tions ahead."

Roncada contributed in other areas of the too, engaging in
time-consuming audio capture sessions and assisting with
physics modeling and game testing. He maintains an indepen-
dent website (www.ronronmx.com) filled with information and
links on his newest pet project. He certainty seems to be one
athlete whose involvement with computer gaming goes far
beyond a name on a box.

i ^

DETAILS, DETAILS... On the left, a circa-ISSS MDTDCRDSS MADNESS rider. On the
right is his 2D00 equivalent, decked out in authentic gear, aboard a real Honda bike, and
featuring an attention to detail and curved surfaces that's downright striking.

Also transformed is the MADNESS bike physics model.
Though Rainbow hasn’t tinkered appreciably with the
steering, Rinard tells us “There were certain aspects of
the bike’s behavior we didn’t like in MOTOCROSS 1.
There was no hint of a powerslide and we thought the
actions of the suspension could use some work.’’ The
solution? Rainbow lead programmer and physics-
engine developer Glenn O’Bannon located a PhD thesis
on the mathematics behind modern suspensions and
progressively-wound spring teclinology, then incorpo-
rated his findings into the game. The result, according
to Rinard, is “funky arcade powerslides,” more realistic
force absorption, and a better ride throughout.

What won't make it to the sequel? As in the original,

you won't find handlebars in the first-person view, or
lens flare in the sky (Rinard calls the latter "too dis-
tracting"). Also not part of the initial release is a track
editor, though that doesn't mean Rainbow isn't work-
ing on it. In fact, when the MADNESS 2 editor does
become available as a no-cost download in late sum-
mer, Rinard says we can expect a stand-alone "mon-
ster" capable of full-terrain editing and allowing aspir-
ing designers to "hit a button, drop your bike on the
new course, and test it right there.” All of which
sounds mighty cool.

But perhaps the most intriguing MADNESS 2
component will be the Pro Circuit career mode.
Here, riders will begin in Enduros with what
Rinard calls a “sorry hunk of machinery,” no
pro racing gear, and a distinct cash shortage.

As you progress through the various indoor
and outdoor events and move to a better class
of bike, you’ll be forced to handle such issues
as repairs, sponsorship dealings, and — as in
real life — medical expenses. And should you fail
to maintain a strong championship ranking, get
ready for a most shocking development. Suffice
it to say that I know all about it, and it sure
ain’t pretty.

The game as a whole, however, looks to be
very pretty indeed. MOTOCROSS MADNESS will
support Windows 95, 98, and 2000 when it
j umps and crashes its way to retail this June.

COMPUTER GAMING WORLD

gw.gainespDt.i

im • MAY 2DDQ

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Vor dem Start die Sicherheitsgurte fest onlegen. Du fliegst im
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Indepe

S pace sims have traditionally
been about quick, flash-bang-
zoom dog-fighting without the
constraints of "physics.” Consider
the irony, then, last year when
INDEPENDENCE WAR — a game making
heavy use of realistic physics— got the
nod for top Sci-Fi Sim within such a
fantasy-based genre. In addition to the
physics engine, INDEPENDENCE WAR
featured a good story and interest-
ing— if linear— mission design.

INDEPENDENCE WAR 2 (a working
title; the definitive title will most like-
ly be "Independence War" with a sub-
title) will retain the same physics
model, but this time the mission
design will be more open-ended.

Don't expect another spin on the
Commonwealth vs. Indie theme from
the first game; fast-forward 100 years
and you’ll have the current setting.

The universe is filled with corpora-
tions and colonists— think Blade
Runner mixed with the Western Frontier. The storyline
is on a more personal level this time; you start out as
young fellow Cal Johnston. After seeing Pa Johnston
killed, you’re raised by Jefferson Clay (the same Clay
from the original game) to become an enterprising
space rogue, and then you progress into a Robin Hood-
esque freedom fighter.

While the first game
focused on naval combat,
this one will be on free-form
piracy. Glyn Williams, lead
designer and founder of
■ Particle Systems, cites ELITE
• as a major influence here.
And so, you won't go

through a string of canned missions as in the first
game; you'll be given the freedom to pursue your own
agenda. The game is split into discrete chapters, and
each will have a few missions that require completion
before progression: other than that, you can do pretty
much whatever you want. The few missions that you
must complete mix elements of piracy with bits of old
school, “Fighting The Man”-style missions.

Physics

Collide With Open-Ended Gameplay

ANTICIPATED llELiASE: 04 OH

PDBlISHE fl : Infogrames

OEVElOPEn: Particle Systems

The original game had a pretty good-looking engine;

its main limi-
tation was its
3D support,
which was
Glide or bust.

Now the team
is using
Direct3D and
reaching into
its bag of
graphics tricks
to render
stunning
ships. The

nebulae and various space backdrops already look
snazzy; the ships are going to be dropping your jaws.
Through a complicated series of programming tricks,
the ships properly reflect light and shadow based on
the types of material they're made from and the loca-
tion of the light source. That is, you get very realistic
metallic sheens, lens flares, and reflections— all of
which combine to give the ships a tactile look.

The ship variety has also been upped significantly.
The familiar corvette class is now accompanied by min-
ers, civilian yachts, smaller police vessels, and more
fighter craft. The designs range from evolutions of
designs from the previous games, to some that were
influenced by James Cameron's The Abyss or
Kurosawa films. To reflect the more personal storyline,
the focus wOl be on the personal fighter ships, rather
than on the massive vessels of the previous game.

Right now, the team is still banging on the engine
itself, and letting bits of gameplay leak into their work.
There’s a lot that’s being plarmed, but not quite imple-
mented yet — like multiplayer, base-building, and ship
customizing. Even though a few key issues are still "up
in the air," I’m confident in Particle Systems; they've
already taken a not-too-successful aspect of past sims
(realistic physics), and crafted a great game around it.
Now they're taking their physics, and adding the open-
ended gameplay that's been missing since PRIVA TEER.
So keep an eye out for this one, come Clrristmas. KdlJ

COMPUTER GAMINS WORLD

ipot.Dom • MAY 2D0D

The Sins is not a g
it’s a way of iif ei

By Chris lomhardi

t's lunchtime on a Friday at a grimy pub in
downtown San Francisco. A pack of editors
from a computer game magazine are there
to order greasy burgers, ogle the beautiful
bartender, and gab. So far, so normal.

But this day is not normal. It’s about as
far from normal as you can get without Rod
Serling as your host. For where these edi-
tors usually talk games and movies and
comic books in conversation thick with off-
color jokes, today they’re talking interior decoration, land-
scaping, the secrets of good housekeeping, and, egad!,
relationships. Understand that these are guys who regular-
ly fail to match their socks, who could learn something
about social graces from the average orangutan. These
"guy’s guys" have suddenly transformed into Martha
Stewarts and Mrs. Manners, nattering away a mile a
minute, effusively gossiping about the marriage troubles of
the so-and-sos, and so giddy with enthusiasm over a par-

CC3W RATED

PROS

A breakthrough design that’s entertaining and innovative
nn many different levels.

CONS

Mundane details of the Sims' lives can become |ust as
rote and tedious as in real life. No sex!

Rerjuircments: Pentium 233M»i2, 32MB RAM, 300MB hard drive space, Ax CD-ROM.
Recommendeii Requirements: PentiuiTi II, 6AMB RAM.

3D Support: Nuiie Multiplayer Support: None

Publisher: Electronic Arts * Developer: Maxis • $40 • www.tliesims.com
ESRB RaUng: Teen; mature sexual themes, mild animated violence,
comic mischief.

Visitvmv.esrb.org I
or call 1-8IXI-771-3772|
for more info. I

ticularly successful combination of mauve carpeting
and Japanese wall coverings that they’re seriously at
risk of wetting themselves.

Just what the hell is going on here? Who turned the
cosmos upside-down and inside out? Something
wicked has surely come this way...

So Wrong, It’s Wright

The name given this evil is THE SIMS, the latest
brain-contagion-disguised-as-software from Will Wright
and Maxis. You may remember Wright as the man who
unleashed SIMCITY on an unsuspecting world in the
early 90s, and whose company Maxis has subsequently
riffed on the Sim theme to create titles like SIMLIFE,
SIMEARTH, SIMP ARM, and SIMANT, among others.

THE SIMS concept follows naturally
from SIMCITY. In SlMClTY, you played
the planning god of a simulated urban
environment. In THE SIMS, you drop
down an order of magnitude in scale
and enter the homes of the Sims to
play household deity, directing the day
to day lives of the average Sim-on-the-
street. In SIMCITY you laid out zones,
created urban amenities and services,
and dealt with disasters. In THE SIMS,
you design a house from the slab up,
using very elegant home-design tools;
you furnish and decorate and help
individual Sims negotiate the daily tri-
als of life, as well as the occasional life
crisis. Sims make friends, find love,
have children, climb career ladders—
and yes, even face death— all of which
is depicted with charming animations
and a rich and clever sound design.

Like most Sim games, THE SIMS is not so much a
game as a "software toy.’’ In fact, THE SIMS is even less
"gamey’’ than the open-ended SIMCITY, which attempt-
ed to offer game-like challenges by presenting urban
crisis scenarios as problems to be solved. There are no
"scenarios” in THE SIMS, and no explicit goal. This is
free-form, exploratory gaming in the extreme.

Money, and How It Gets That Way

That’s not to say that THE SIMS is completely without
structure. Money motivates and frames a Sim’s behav-
ior. Money buys and furnishes homes; feeds Sims; pays
their utility bills, their gardeners, and their maids. Sims
earn cash by working at one of 10 different career
paths, which range from medicine to entertainment to
crime. They move up the career ladder by improving
their skills (including such things as mechanical apti-
tude, charisma, and physical fitness), building their
social network, and going to work in high spirits.

The mood of a Sim is all-important, and keeping your
Sims happy is your number-one concern. The Sim’s psy-
che is divided into nine basic needs (social, hygiene,
bladder, hunger, energy, entertainment, comfort, and
environmental satisfaction) that must be adequately
met in order to keep a Sira grinning. The fundamental
challenge of THE SIMS, as in life, is to find the time to
meet all of your Sim’s basic needs and still have time to
boogie. Each sim day, you face questions like: Do I
spend my two hours of free time tonight playing pool
with my friends, or studying for a promotion? Computer
games until the wee hours, or a good night's sleep? A
bath tonight, or in the morning? It’s the juggling act
that each of us performs every single day, each in our

own way and to varying degrees of success. It's life in
all of its drab, humdrum detail, as well as in the little
victories and achievements that make it all worthwhile.

Free Willie

The Sims are autonomous beings, to a degree. They
can taite care of their basic needs, but never as well as
an attentive and conscientious player/caretaker. So, if
you want to maximize your Sim’s success in some
realm, you'll need to take control, which means direct-
ing every action a Sim makes: going to the bathroom,
flushing the toilet, wasliing its hands, cooking dinner,
washing dishes, turning on the TV, sitting down to
watch TV, turning off the TV, setting the alarm clock,
going to bed, getting up, going to the bathroom, flush-

Welcome to the neigh-
borhood. Pick a lot build
a house using simple
and elegant home-
design tools, and deco-
rate until your wallet
cries "uncle."

ing the toilet, tak-
ing a

shower. ..every
freaking day.

Sound tedious? It certainly can be. Fortunately, suc-
cess in Sim life brings some relief from the drudgery.
You can hire a maid to clean up, a gardener to garden,
and (halleluja!) a toilet that will flush itself. Other appli-
ances and improved skills can reduce the amount of
time spent with dirty details.

But initially, the micro-management of life’s minutia is
unrelenting. This, combined with some limitations, can
lead to initial disappointment, A game that bills itself
as a “life simulator” can’t fail to disappoint to a degree,
given one's intimate familiarity with the subject matter
and the huge expectations one can’t help but heap onto
the simulation. For instance, in a life simulator, you
might hope that your Sims could get out of the house,
go on a date, go to the bar. But THE SIMS is centered
entirely on the home. The career choices are rather lim-
ited, as is the actual effect that a career has in the sim-
ulation, the only operational difference between careers
being in the wages earned and hours worked. Sims
have relationships with other Sims, but the purity of
Sim friendships can be tarnished by the fact that one
must amass friends to climb up most of the career lad-

COMPUTER GAMING WORLD

;gw.g.

• MAY 2 000

THE SOCIAL SIM

The range of Sim social behaviors is quite broad: dancing, insults, jokes,
slaps, and alt sorts of huggin', touchin,' and squeezin’ - with the excep*
tion of sex. The scclat component is extremety welt designed, with intri-
cate gestures and body tanguage, iconic speech baitoons (see hot tub
shot) that suggest the Sims’
language.

imagination in full gear, seem to be enjoying the game
the most. THE SIMS is designed such that the more
imagination you bring to it, and the more you are will-
ing to explore and push beyond its apparent limits, the
more you get out of it.

The second sense in which THE SIMS is more than it
appears is that the game you buy off the shelf offers
just a slim percentage of the household objects, charac-
ters, and home-decorating options available. The Maxis
team was clever enough to realize that they could not
provide everything that people might want in THE
SIMS. So, they’ve given players the tools and support
they need to create new elements. As I write, the game
has been out for just three weeks, and already there
are hundreds of new character "skins" available, rang-
ing from Frankenstein to The Flash to the entire KISS
band, in addition to thousands of new wallpaper and
flooring options. Maxis itself is releasing a new object
each week, and plans to continue releasing one a week
for the foreseeable future.

Finally, Maxis' Web site, www.thesims.coni, offers
players a whole meta-level of social interaction with
other real people. Players can upload their neiglibor-
hoods and families to the Web site and download oth-
ers to compare and contrast their efforts. By far, the
most interesting component of the site is the "photo
albums,” assemblages of screenshots from the game
with captions. Players have been using this tool to cre-
ate surprisingly good graphic novels of sorts about
their Sims families. They’re worth checking out, even if
you're not into the game.

So, if you’re able to engage THE SIMS at one or more
of these levels, it’s a totally addicting, fascinating,
charming, and— in small and unexpected ways—
enlightening experience. It’s remarkable how one’s life
and personality can be mirrored by the game, and how
the game can show you your own life from fresh angles
(I know I’ll never look at my co-workers in quite the
same way). That a piece of entertainment software is
capable of evoking so much from its players is rare and
praiseworthy. But when one considers THE SIMS' other
achievements— among them, vigorously affirming the
commercial viability of non-competitive games, enlist-
ing players as co-creators at an unprecedented level,
offering long-term support and extension of the game
universe (for free), and, perhaps above all, getting
gamers to think about things like hygiene, nutrition,
and a good night's sleep (not that it's had any real
effect around CGW)— one realizes that what we have in
THE SIMS is an Important Game, one of those rarities—
a SIMCITY, a DOOM, a HALF-LIFE— that will make an
indelible mark on our hobby. Such games only come

around once in a
while, and
shouldn' t be
missed. E33

ders, reducing friends to objects that must be collected
like Pokemon in order to “gain a level.” Then there's
the fact that the only obvious objectives are the acqui-
sition of consumer goods and the enlarging of one’s
home. The sum effect is that THE SIMS can come off as
an agoraphobic Yuppie simulator, without enough
tasteful wallpaper and flooring combinations.

And Now, the Rest of the Story

However, such a view only skims the surface of THE
SIMS. There is deeper magic coursing through this soft-
ware that’s not at all obvious from viewing the bare
bones of the simulation. In several difference senses,
THE SIMS disc that you bring home from the store con-
tains but a small fraction of what the complete experi-
ence has to offer.

First, a very interesting thing can happen to players
while they are taking their Sims through the paces of
their lives: They begin to spontaneously create stories.
Wherever there are gaps in the simulation, wherever
details are left unspecified, one’s mind compulsively
fills these holes with narrative. An example:

Chumpy Lombardi, my first Sim, was on the business
career path. He was successful, he was financially
secure, but he was bitterly unhappy. One day, he could
bear it no longer. He quit his job, and used his savings
to go back to school to study his true passion: science!
To support himself, he became an artist, selling his
paintings to pay his tuition. Once his education was
complete, he joined the ranks of working scientists,
and— because he was so delighted to have finally dis-
covered his bliss— flew up the academic ladder, eventu-
ally becoming a full professor. The end.

Now, very little of this scenario actually happened
within the simulation. There is no “midlife crisis" mod-
ule programmed into the game. You can’t really go back
to school. And it’s really hard to tell the difference
between a Sira who's found his bliss and one who has
not. But the simulation provided just enough of a
framework for my imagination to work upon and spon-
taneously weave this tale.

Everyone I know who's played THE SIMS has experi-
enced this phenomenon, and those who've allowed
themselves the greatest freedom to "think outside the
box" of the simulation, to meet it half-way with one’s

MAY 2000 •

^gw.gamespot.i

• COMPUTER GAMINC VYORLO

«k

Here’s a small sampling of the weirdness to be found in the online
photo albums at www.thesims.cam. 1) Mr. Sadistic {the naked one on
the bench) keeps Sims as pets...

2) A scene from inside the compound of a Sim cult...

4) Things take a turn toward the tragic in the life of Gnzzley Adams; shot
by the deputy, he lies bleeding while faithful companion Tan-Bear grieves
(note; the image was doctored to add the blood. There's no bloody violence
in THE SIMS. ..yet).

MAY 2000 • c g v». g a m e s p a I .cDm * COMPUTER GAMINS WORLD

An Interview With Gaming’s Great
Constructor, Will Wright

K lapaucius is my hero,” says Will
Wright, the designer of SIMCiTY
and THE SIMS. Klapaucius,
Wright explains, is the protago-
nist in a series of stories by
Polish science-fiction author and
mathematician Stanislaw Lem.

A robotic demi-god in the far
future, a Great Constructor with the power to move stars
and construct impossible contraptions, Klapaucius roams
the universe, looking for fresh ways to put his construc-
tion skills to the test, and at the same time humble the
proud, disarm the war-like, and
explore knotty issues like free will,
information theory, and the nature
of consciousness.

When we visited Wright in his
cramped, windowless office, he
looked the perfect human analog
of his robotic hero. On his com-
puter screen, he was brows-
ing the recent photo albums
uploaded to www.thesims.com
like a deity amusing himself with
the antics of his creations. On his
desk, he toyed with the prototype of a
plastic home construction set which he
designed (whether the kit becomes a chO-
dren’s toy or a architectural space-planning
tool, he's not yet sure). Just outside his
office is a romper room filled with toys,
among them a model railroad. One gets the
impression that, for Wright, a day without cre-
ating something is not a complete day.

I'm in a very rare and special position today from
ttie perspective of the Sims, in that I have an audi*
ence with their creator. I suppose the Sims would
want me to ask something like, “What’s the
meaning of SimLife?”

There's a short story by Stanislaw Lem
about some programmers who create a vir-
tual world like THE SIMS. And there’s a
debate among the creators of this world
about whether or not they should tell these
simulated people that they just live inside a
computer and that they created them.
Eventually a law is passed that says they’re
not allowed to tell the simulated people any-
thing; it’s considered unethical. But these
people deduce that there are creators watch-
ing them, they notice that information is leak-
ing out of their environment and coming back
in with feedback, so obviously someone is

changing the environment based on what they’re doing.
Anyway, the moral implication of all that is pretty inter-
esting and ru just leave it at that.

You obviously had to make many difficult ethical choices and
deal with lots of sensitive issues in creating a game about life.

Oh yeah. We had a whole list that we had to thread
through quite carefully. We had long discussions about
each one. Homosexuality. Domestic violence. Child abuse.
Pedophilia. All these touchy things. With each one, we
tried to figure out just how far we could go without
upsetting too many people, but keeping the game as
open-ended as possible. It was all about that balance.
There were a couple things that we decided we just did-
n’t want to touch, like pedophilia. Others we decided we
were fairly comfortable with, like homosexuality. Other
things we tried to leave open to interpretation.

The domestic violence issue was an interesting one.
One of the social interactions is a slap. Our initial slap
was a “knock your head off" kind of slap. It was fine,
except when you saw a husband slapping his wife; it
was a “break your jaw” kind of slap, and a lot of people
were uncomfortable with that — it was just too gritty and
realistic. So we ended up doing two slaps: If a man and
women are slapping, it’s much more of a British officer’s-
dueling slap. But if it's a woman to woman or man to
man slap, it’s the more violent slap. So there were things
we had to fine-tune to skirt around some of these issues.

THE SIMS is a pretty big break from traditional game designs.
Did you have any trouble getting support for tiie idea?

Oh yeah. I started on
tins seven years ago.
Before SIMCITY 2000.
And a lot of people
thought it was iffy. In
1993, the marketing
people wanted to do a
focus group, which was
hilarious. I still have it on
tape. We described the concept
to the focus group almost exactly
the way it shipped, and every-
body said they hated it, that it
was the stupidest idea they’d ever
heard of. It was classic.

After that, there was a lot of
resistance to the idea within
Maxis, but I kept fighting for it.
Then I put down the project to do
SIMCITY 2000. In 1995, we put the
project before our internal product-
review council, and the review coun-
cil cancelled the project. Or attempt-
ed to. But I kinda raised a slink and
then took it over as my secret project.
I basically had one programmer work-
ing -with me in the background.

By the time EA bought Maxis, we
had a prototype running. EA was
very excited about the project and
they gave me tlrree or four times
more resources than I’ve ever had
on any project. EA either does
something, or doesn’t, there's no
in between. It was just amazing
how many resources we could
apply to THE SIMS over the past two years.

I find tJie reactions that people have to THE SIMS to be fascinat-
ing. Some absolutely hate it, and for some it's a new religion.

Yeah, THE SIMS is like this weird mirror. Two out of
ten people find the game to be incredibly boring. Another
two think it’s okay. And the other six love it. It's interest-
ing just how bipolar the reaction can be. It has a lot to do
with how much people allow the game to reflect their
own lives, and how much imagination they’re willing to
put into the game.

In a lot of games, you can be very imaginative and the
game just rejects it. So I can see how someone could get
very attuned to that, not expecting to be able to bring in
their own imagination. They’re waiting to see the next
cut scene, and thinking “Whoa, there’s no cool cut-scene
here, what am I supposed to do? This is work! ”

Why is the game able to evoke such a strong response from
those six of ten?

Well, the essence of worlds like SIMCITY and THE SMS
is up here [in your head], not here [in the computer). The
most detailed representation and simulation of that world
is what the players carry around with them. So the com-
puter models are really just a tool to spark the model in
your head; the game supplies the dynamics, but it's your
head that fills in the details. There's a space between the
computer model and the brain’s model where this tiring
actually lives. The computer is good at certain things that
prop up the simulation; the human is good at other
things— so the human is actually actively simulating the
things that the computer is very bad at simulating.

The original SIMCITY had a pretty profound impact on gaming.
After SIMCITY, many games started to incoiporate SiMCiTY-like
elements into tbeir designs. What do you think THE SIMS’
impact will be? What elements of the game might people incor-
porate into their designs?

I wouldn't be surprised to see the speech presentation
used again— the way we communicate the emotions and
topic, but not the details. One thing people haven’t men-
tioned that we thought was quite innovative was the use
of the pie menus for the social interactions. But really,
there’s notlring we’re doing here that’s that remarkable,
except for perhaps the architecture of our simulation; its
object-oriented nature is quite iimovative.

The biggest impact though is that you’ll have all the
good, creative designers out there who might have had
ideas in this direction who will now be able to get pub-
lishers to support them. I’m sure there are plenty of peo-
ple out there who had similar ideas, but could never seD
the idea in a million years. If THE SIMS is a market suc-
cess, it’ll be much easier for them to get their projects
greenlighted. So I think we might see a lot more games
that involve social interaction. That’s the effect of an
innovative game that's a commercial success— it makes a
new design space safe for game designers to explore.

THE SIMS seems a natural for an online worid with thousands of
people interacting.

There are a lot of multiplayer ideas that sound good in
the abstract, but as you dig into the specifics, there’s
hard problems to be overcome. We're working on a multi-
player world, but right now we’re working down at the
level of identifying little problems that pop up that don’t
seem obvious at the high level. Designing is kind of like
playing a game, in that you have all these potential paths
you can take, and a lot of times you’re going to go down
branches that are wrong. What we’re trying to do is
prune the branches of potential multiplayer designs as
quickly as possible. I have an instinct for where it might
go, and based on that instinct we’ve built a prototype.

Are you thinking large-scale?

Depends on your definition of large. I’m tlririking
100,000 players.

In a single world?

Depends on what you mean by single world. This
could change at any time, but right now we’re thinking of
a design that appears to be a persistent world. But you’d
play one house at a time. You can choose which house
you want to go to, but you’re then in that house’s envi-
ronment. It’s not like a free-form world where you could
walk up and down the streets. And we’re not going to
force people to just do a house. It could be a lounge or a
bar or a business, whatever they want.

Will there be an economy?

Right now we’re looking at more than one project. The
first project will not have a secure economy. We can have
a secure economy— and in fact we’re going to, in a later
version— but that would add about a year to the project.
So, we decided we want to come out a year earlier with a
design that works without a secure economy, and instead
let people role-play and interact and make it all about
social interaction.

In the future version. I’d like to base the economic
model on creativity, so that people are encouraged and
rewarded for entertaining the other players — whether it’s
creating cool skins, or objects, or a house. I’m not sure
how we’re going to accomplish this yet, it’s just a gut

MAY ZODD • cfl>

>pal.CQm • COMPUTER CAUING WOHID

feeling as to where I think we should be going with it.

Tell us a little more about the object architecture.

Almost ail of the behaviors in the game are inside the
objects, which is how we're able to extend the behavior
just by downloading an object. All the Sims know is that
objects can help meet certain needs; they know “I'm
hungry’’ and they look for the Irighest scoring hunger
item; at that point they start rumring code in the object,
say, the refrigerator. The refrigerator actually contains the
animation and sound effects and the computer code that
allows them to eat. including cooking and finding a chair
and table. So that way, with downloadable objects, we
can totally change the behavior and add new layers of
simulation on top of them.

Have any of your recent downloadable objects done sometlnng
like that?

We've done a little. Our next download is a guinea
pig. People can take it out of its cage and pet it and play
with it. But it’s kind of a Trojan Horse object. If the
guinea pig bites you, you’ll actually get sick. But you
won’t notice this for maybe a day. You’ll start seeing the
Sim sneeze, then cough. And it’s a communicable dis-
ease, so they can spread it around to other sims. If you
don't get enough rest, you’ll eventually die. So there’s
tills whole new dynamic— sickness— that we’ve added to
the game with just one object.

So you're going to be adding more ways for Sims to die?

Oh yeah. People really seem to be enjoying that. One

thing I’m doing is looking at the stories on
the Web site— the direction that people are
trying to go in with the stories and hitting
brick walls. I want to look at those brick
walls and figure out how to remove
them with downloadable objects.

The real long-term attraction of
THE SIMS is as a story-telling plat-
form, so we’re giving players new
props that they can use on their
stage.

How long will you support the game?

We're not sure. In the long term,
we want to transition from us cre-
ating the stuff to the players creat-
ing the stuff. We’ve got a lot of
very hard-to-use tools right now for
creating objects. Creating objects
is a very complex process. But I’m
still convinced that I want to give
these tools to the players. They
won't be useful to the average
player, but there are some people
out there that can figure tills out
and do it. So at some point, we’ll
be ramping these skilled fans up so
that we can start ramping down
our efforts, and then get o n to th e
next version of the game.

41 ^

■ Go a’Calling. You don’t have to wait for your
friends to come to you. You can go to them. Go to
the neighborhood selector and choose another
house, Then call up the Sim you are working on
and invite him or her over. Then, bombard the Sim
with social options. This works great with large
families. The Sim you’ve invited can interact with
three or four other Sims and boost his relationship
rating. An extra bonus to this technique is that it
doesn’t cost the Sim any time or energy. When you
go back to the original Sim's house, no time will
have passed.

■ Instant Friends. If your Sim is in dire need of
new friends, create a large family of new Sims and
move them onto a lot. You don’t have to worry
about completely outfitting a new house, or build-
ing any house at all. Just give them a phone.
Without a phone, you can’t call the new Sims and
invite them over.

■ Relationships With Kids. Having good relation-
ships with neighborhood kids can be tough for the
working adult due to the narrow window of social
time between school hours and the eight o'clock
curfew, But there’s a way around this. If a kid is
visiting and the kid's parent comes over to collect
the kid, ignore the parent. Don’t answer the door
and keep the kid occupied. Eventually, the parent
will go away and you can keep the kid well past
midnight.

ELVIS IS A FRIEND OF MINE If you need lots of new friends
fast, create a huge family, plop them on a plot of land, and give
them a phone (and no jobs!). Here, we have a family consisting of
Santa, Elvis, Will Wright, a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader, and agents
Mulder and Sculley - all of whom are now just a phone call away.

Tips for Making the Most
out of Sim Life

"Wle” Time

■ Divide and conquer your Sims' needs. Don't try to
satisfy all of the needs every day. We’ve found it use-
ful to set up a 3-4 day schedule that focuses on one
need each day. So. we have a Study Day, a Take Care
of Personal Crap Day, a Fun Day, a Social Day. fol-
lowed by a day off. Adjust this schedule according to
your Sim's personality.

■ A fine day off. Early in THE SIMS it’s going to be
hard to address all your Sim's needs, especially
social needs. There just never seems to be enough
hours in the day, and the economic constraints you
face early in the game keep you from efficiently
doing much of anything. The key is to take occasion-
al days off of work; but instead of just lying around—
like you do when dodging work in real life — you need
to make your days off work for you.

Once you have some money in the bank, turn off
"Free Will" in the Options menu and take over your
Sim’s life entirely. Once he/she gets up, ignore the
carpool and binge on food, gorging yourself silly.

Take a couple of showers; eat some more; then
watch tons of TV to shoot your Fun rating up. Take a
long nap after lunch so you’re well rested and com-
fortable. Right before the rest of the neighborhood
gets off from work (generally around 3:00 p.m.), eat
some more, then call everyone you know over for a
big party. Use the toilet before they show up,
whether you need to or not. Once everyone arrives,
prepare a meal so they can eat, then talk to everyone
as long as you can— talking is the big Social activity.
If you’ve timed everything out right, you’ll be able to
stay up late and socialize for a while with no ill
effects. You can supplement your new, high Social
rating by having individual guests drop by most
every evening until your next party.

Good Housekeeping

" Do not disturb. Getting a Sim woken up in the
middle of the night by a phone call or noise from a
TV or radio can be disastrous to the following day.

To ensure peace and quiet at night, make sure that
all of the passageways into the Sim’s sleeping area
have either a door or a doorframe. Doors and door-
frames block out all noise from other rooms, ensuring
a good night’s sleep.

■ Invest in comfort. The most important furnishings
in a Sim’s life: bed, toilet, bath, and couch. When
starting out, keep your house small and buy the
highest quality models of these items you can. The

MAY 2000 • CBw.gamespot.cDm • COMPUTiR GAMING WQRID

In the Kitchen

• Get cooking! Cooking is a very
important skill, as it reduces the
amount of time you'll spend feed*
ing yourself. When starting a new
bachelor Sim, it's a good idea to
immediately study cooking, even
before you get a job. It will

save you lots of time in the
long run. and reduce the risk of
fire.

• Fire bad! If you're cooking
skills are weak, for God's sake;
DON'T USE THE RANGE. Fires
are frighteningly frequent when
you're a rookie chef. When
starting a new Sim, it's best to
avoid a range/stove altogether.
You can get by just fine with a
food processor and a
microwave, although there is
still some risk of fire with the
latter.

* Plan your kitchen for maximum
efficiency. Try to set up your vari-
ous appliances so that Sims can
proceed from one to another in a
straight line.

• Binge eating. For those times you
need to get a lot of food in you.
Serve Dinner instead of making a
series of single meals. It costs $20
(twice the cost of a single dinner)
but provides about five or six plates
of food, regardless of the fact that
no one else is around. This way, you
can just eat and eat and eat without
wasting time repeatedly preparing
food— more time to socialize when
you call friends over later.

• Do your Sim's dirty work. While in
Build mode, you can move any
object that's not currently in use.

You can use this ability to do lots of
micro-management. For instance,
before you can afford a maid, you
can help your Sims with clean up.
Gather all of the dishes and stack
them next to the sink. Or gather
trash and place it next to a trash
can. If you're really cheap and lazy,
you can create a garbage pit at the
side of your house where you can
throw your trash.

COOKING FOR ONE Here's a simple but effi-
cient bachelor kitchen setup. From frig to food
processor is one step. Then the Sim need only
turn to the left to reach the microwave. Notice
how the trash compactor serves as a counter
top, and that there is no stove in sight.

investment will pay off hand-
over-fist in your Sim’s energy,
comfort, and hygiene levels.

■ Paying bills is a pain in the
butt. So you may as well
spend as little time as possi-
ble doing it. Rather than hav-
ing your Sims tote the mail all
the way into the house and
then back out to the mailbox,
try this trick: Place a tasteful
little end-table in your front
yard, as close to the mailbox
as possible. The Sim will then
place the bills on the end-
table. It may look funny, but it
will allow you to pay your
bihs very quickly when you are either coming home or
going to work. If you’d rather not have furniture on
the front lawn, have your Sim get the mail and then
immediately cancel the action. The Sim will drop the
mail at his feet. You can also place a fish tank next to
the table, so that your Sim can get a quick “fun” boost
right before stepping into the carpool car.

onto your property, the alarm will
sound and the police will catch
him before he has a chance to take
anything. You earn the reward for
capture without having to pay to
replace any stolen goods.

■ Don't neglect the front lawn.
Many players tend to ignore the
outsides of their homes, to the
detriment of their “room” rating.
As soon as you can afford it, hire a
gardener and then go wild with
the flora. Don't bother planting
before you can afford help; the
time needed to care for plants is
not worth the benefit.

The Working World

■ Match your Sim's career and personality. Certain
personalities are better suited to certain careers.
Highly social careers like business and politics
require high "outgoing” and “nice" ratings to win
friends and influence others. Physical jobs like ath-
lete and daredevil are nearly impossible without a
high "active" rating.

■ Hot tub hot! Hot tubs are one of the best luxuries
in the game. They improve hygiene and comfort, and
they are a great social activity. Highly social Sims
swear by the hot tub.

GOTCHA! The exterior burglar alarm is
sounding even before the thief has stepped
through your door, ffe’ii get caught, and
you'll get a reward - without iosing a singie
cent to the insurance company.

■ Burglars. Put
a burglar alarm
on the outside
of your house
near the main
entry. The
range of the
burglar alarm
is "the room
it's currently
in," and the
exterior of your
house is con-
sidered a room.
As soon as a
burglar steps

■ Take a sab-
batical. If you
find that you’re
having trouble
advancing in
your career due
to social or skill
limitations, and
you have a fat
savings
account, go on
“sabbatical."
Quit your job
and start work-

W ant to listen to differ-
ent music on the Sim's
stereo? Just drop your
favorite MP3 files into either
the Latin, Country, Rock, or
Classical folders in the
"TheSimsXMusicVStationsi"
directory. You can also change
the music that plays during
the Build and Buy modes
(\Music\Modes) as well as the
sounds coming from theTV
(\SoundData\TVStations\).

mg on your
skills and/or
social life. In

just a week or two, you can max out your important
stats and have a truck-load of friends. Then, get
another job and giggle with glee as you soar up the
corporate ladder.

While in live mode, press [Ctrl] + IShiftl + [Alt] + [Cl to display a box in the upper-left corner of the screen. Type in the codes below to
activate the cheat.

CODE

Klapaucius

waterjool

interests
autonomy [1-100]

EFFECT

Givos you 1000 Simoleons.

Evon the SimSIacker can afford waterfront property with the water tool. Input this code and your ci
becomes a water drawing tool. Be warned: once a water tile, always a water tile.

Allows you to view your Sim's canversational interests.

This cheat allows you to change your Sim's level of free will. Set to 0,
your Sim will just stand there waiting for your commands. Set to 100, the
Sims do a good job of meeting their own basic needs. Useful for when
you want to put your Sim on a work-a-holic binge in order to rack up the
Simoleons.

If only life had this cheat. If you want to give your Sim an extra hour or
two of sleep, use this cheat to set back the clock.

3 AN ISLAND But with the "water tool” cheat, a Sim can live on a lovely peninsula.

■ Be an artist.
There’s at least
one way to make a
living without hav-
ing a “career.”

With a maxed-out
Creativity skill, a
Sim can sell paint-
ings at $166 a pop.
A Sim can create
1.5 paintings a day,
on average. It's not
going to make you
rich (what did you
expect?), but you
can get by while
living an “alterna-
tive l ifestyle."

/?Tr7

www.mightandmagie.eom j, jnriF nynin uumrunnu tJMJf

© 2000 The 3DO Company. All Rights ReseiWl, 3DO, Might and Magic, Day of the Destroyer, New V/orIc/ Con^utnf-lmdSflr respective logos, are tradeniarks and/or service
marks ol The 3DO Company In the U.S. and other countries, All other trademarks belong to their respective owners. New World Computing Is a division of The 3DO Company

fk 1 n

P' ' Jf'

Don't just change

the way you look at

Real-Tlipe Strategy.

MkPffj M

ehree-dimensianai

strategy game has landed oM|H|KS 9
American shores. After takin^^^K^OM
Eurnpe by storm. Earth B150
ready to change RTS fnrever.
than eye candy, its revnlutionary
engine takes the genre in a new direlM
And what's most impressive is that you
have to take our word for

HHRhe 3D envlroninent!''*
fullest strategic value."

www.ign.com

jJiUjiLr.

Change the way you play it

>AIter the 3D landscape
advantage with the first W
terrain, defnrmatinn in RTS.

>Keep track of up tn 3 different
locations simultaneously with the
dnicpie monitoriny system...

FLIGHT &
FLIGHT on

Embattled Flight Sim Genre Stakes Its Future

t comes as a shock to no one that
retail flight sims are the latest
poster child for a genre in trouble.

In fact, most investors consider the
funding of a new flight simulation
in today's gaming climate to be the
equivalent of financial suicide.

But mention the terms "Internet”
and "multiplayer" and an investor's
eyes light up with dollar signs, like
character in a Saturday-morning
cartoon.

This might go a long way in explaining why

there are already six online sims based on the
WWII era (with a possible seventh on the way)
competing for your time and money. While we're
at it. throw in a couple of WWI sims and a
Vietnam-based effort as well. It seems the
Internet has taken what was once known as the
most obscure of niche markets — the online flight
sim — and has turned it into a hotbed of frenzied
gaming development.

If you haven't tried multiplayer flying yet, you're
missing out on some of the best fun you can have
online. Now's the time to give it a try, because
you have more options than ever before.

F light Plan; The "Electronic Battlefield" has long been a Holy Grail of sorts
for the online sim enthusiast— intensely desired, but impossible to find. So

when 15 employees left the now-defunct iMagic office in Grapevine, TX to form

Playnet Inc./Comered Rat Software, they asked themselves, "Why not us?” As
the title implies, WWII ONLINE is going to be more than just a flight sim. Those

of you who've long craved a grander strategic model than simply capturing an
airfield just might get your wish, In fact, you’re going to get an entire war, where
you can do more than fly: You can drive tanks, captain ships, or even grunt it out
as a soldier on foot, as in a first-person shooter. Successful mission completion

gives your persona the ability to climb
the ranking system, giving you access
to more resources and better equip-
ment. Do well enough, and you could
earn a trusted command position in one
of various branches of a service. Or, you
can SCTew all of that and occasionally
pop in just to blow stuff up. WWn
ONLINE will be broken up into various
theaters. Each theater can accommo-
date up to 1000 players, and eventually
a total of ten theaters will be made
available (Russia, North Africa, South
Pacific, and so on).

Choose Your Weapon: The first the-
ater will be based on the Blitzkrieg of
1940, and equipment will reflect that
period. The usual suspects will be
there— the Spit, Hurricane, and assorted
Messerschmitts. There will also be other
planes, like the Stuka and the French
Curtis Hawk H-75. For those who prefer
to drive, there’ll be plenty of the early
Panzer tanks to choose from, or the

Battle of
Britain

M0iplavW/^ms

Aces High

NOT HIS FINEST

HOUROiis Spit from
BATTLE OF BRITAIN
won’t last long in all
this anti-aircraft fire.

French Char Bis Bl. Throw in half-
tracks, trucks, supply ships, U-boats,
battleships, artillery— even a Lee Enfield
rifle— and you start to get the picture.

Targets of Opportunity: Continuous
successful operations against the enemy
will be vital, such as the capture and
control of key centers of production and
transportation. Players will come and go
online as they please, obviously, so the
teams that manage to work together by
communicating and developing plans
will fare best. Ultimately, though, the
designers intend to accommodate all
maimer of play-styles into one giant,
dynamic environment.

Angle of Attack: WWH ONLINE 's
ambitious design is endeavoring to
create a world where WARBIRDS meets
PANZER ELITE meets HIDDEN &
DANGEROUS. The thinking is that there
are hundreds of isolated communities
out there right now, enjoying various
forms of WWn simulation/gaming. What
if ail were somehow brought together
into one giant game?

Ready for Takeoff: An open beta
should start before the end of the sec-
ond quarter of this year, followed by the
production release sometime in the
third quarter. Pricing is yet to be deter-
mined, but will be a flat rate.
www.wwiionline.com

A ces high, a new Sim by the guys
who developed WARBIRDS, offers 15
WWII planes in a three-country furball
arena. Check out this month’s review
on page 96.

DEATH FROM ABQ^'R^oUzwaDMo live, got-fo
use then ihrfnnnentSi.sodte yaHwf lie fs^ableJti^ou want
to hill, you need 'det39^^ii{l-i3nBe4o line tip your toiget.
ACES-IlKR'dueE 3 good jitidii tiqfb'areas:

F light Plan: SimGuild, a
two-man operation in
Oklahoma, made their mark
with the WWI-based
FLYING CIRCUS. Now
they’ve set out to deliver
the same unique brand of
gameplay in a WWn set-
ting: the famed Battle of
Britain. Their new title,
named after the historic
battle, is an intentional mix
of uncompromising realism
and concession to play-
balance, all based on what
the developers think works
best in a '‘mondo-player"
arena. For example, BOB
exhibits some extremely
precise flight and damage
modeling, so the original
tactics that carried the day
over the coasts of England
work just as well here. On
the other hand, you won't
experience any blackouts;
the takeoffs and landings
are user-friendly; and the
low-speed handling is a tad
more forgiving than in other
online sims, All of this
makes for some quick and
frenzied dogfights.

Choose Your Weapon:
Five fighter aircraft are
already in place, and
bombers are soon to follow,
Take to the skies in the leg-
endary British Spitfire Mk 1
or Mk IB, or try the work-
horse Hurricane Mk 1. For
the Luftwaffe, fly the twin-
engine Bf 110 or the infa-
mous Bf 109 (E4).

Targets of Opportunity:
A single arena, with the
English Channel as the
obvious focal point. Hosted
historical scenarios are soon
to come.

Angle of Attack: BOB is

geared toward the quick-fix
dogfighter who usually
wants to spend no more
than an hour or two online,
per session.

Ready for Takeoff: At
the time of this writing,

BOB was in beta format,
and available only to
SimGuild customers.
Compared to the competi-
tion, the pricing is mid-
range: $10/month for 40
hours. Once past the 40,
it's 25c/hr.
www.simguild.com

Fighter Ace II

F light Plan; FIGHTER ACE
II (FA II) from Microsoft
Games improves the original
uninspired program by
adding new aircraft, 3D*
graphics support, “Territorial
Combat" arenas, and more
special events. New planes
are always welcome, but the
vast majority of FA II players
use the Arcade Arenas,
where “the laws of physics
are not strictly enforced." As
a result, the aircraft all “fly"
pretty much alike, with
weapons packages providing
the main contrast. There is a
much better flight model
available in the “Realistic"
arenas, yet few players
choose that option. The new
3D graphics still can’t match
those in similar games,
although they’re far better
than the previous version.

The overall "muddy” color
palette and indistinct artwork
just doesn't provide that “you
are there" feeling. On a
brighter note, the Territorial
arenas are a major enhance-
ment to gameplay; capturing
enemy assets affords relief
from the endless furballs of
the original FIGHTER ACE.
The increased emphasis on
special historical missions
and tournaments also brings
greater interest and a sense
of community to this version.

Choose Your Weapon: Fly
35 famous WWII fighter and
bomber aircraft from U.S.,
British, German, Japanese,
and Russian factories.
Targets of Opportunity:

I MEANT A BUD LITE! The terrain anti
aircraft are blurry, dark, and gtoamy in
RGHTEH ACE II. Of course, a good burst of
cannon fire can tighten the mood.

I CAN SEE CLEARLY
NOW! Kitting FA ll’s F3
key removes cockpit art-
work, allowing unlimited
vision in all direcKons.
While not too realistic, it
sure makes shooting a
whole lot easier!

/n5~sr:\

FA n offers typical online combat
opportunities with “arcade," "cap-
ture the flag,” Special Events, and
tournament arenas.

Angle of Attack: Aimed at less-
demanding pilots, this is simplified
air combat with features like remov-

able cockpit art and padlock views
that are banned in other online
sims.

Ready for Takeoff: FA II is up

and flying at wvm.zorie.com/fight-
erace for $1.95 per day, or $9.95 per \
month, www.zone.com

..n • pnMaiiTFfl oaMiNi; uvomo

Air Warrior: Vietnam

F light Plan: Work continues at Kesmai for an assault on the Vietnam-era combat sim market.

AIR WARRIOR; VIETNAM features missions and campaigns from the 1964-1968 period. Flight
models will use recently declassified "official" sources for aircraft performance and handling
characteristics. Both “relaxed" and "full realism" options are planned, along with all-new 3D
graphics and AI modeling. Given the public attention to this war, a well-executed AIR WARRIOR:
VIETNAM could revitalize interest in this era's air combat.

Choose Your Weapon: U.S. Navy: A-4, A-6, F-8, F-4. U.S. Air Force: F-4D, F-105. Vietnamese
People’s Air Force: MiG-17, MiG-21.

Targets of Opportunity: Gameplay features 13 campaigns covering different phases of the
four-year period. While blowing stuff up is always fun, there are major political considerations in
this war. You’ll start with the initial bombing raids against the North, continuing towards Hanoi
with the MiGs, the AAA, and SAMS getting tougher as you go. Players/pilots try to gain rank
and earn medals in both the solo and online modes. The “team" goal is to make the other guy
die for his country, while achieving the politicians' war aims, Online opportunities will be similar
to AIR WARRIOR, with free-for-all and historical arenas.

Angle of Attack: AIR WARRIOR: VIETNAM aspires to provide a great solo game and an excit-
ing massively-multiplayer online game on the same CD.

Ready for Takeoff: Kesmai declined comment on a release date, but noted that development
began in early 1999. Price was also unavailable at press time, but the box set "will be typically
priced" and plans include "a monthly fee for unlimited play online.” www.i;-, '

TESTING, TESTING A Thud and a Phantom show
their stuff in an early test of the graphics engine.
Nothing in this shot is ready for prime time, yet it's
already better fhen many other games.

Can't IMame IMames, but...

more WWII.onlinD^Dnly to rcpfirl oiii-IffitjiSfcittftH' "

lpiWell.yeitmlMt i.Ms yet tliat it's boiini.Wiitoijaril/siS^Stfi

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WARBlRDS,from
iEntertainment, remains the
leader in online ACM. Its excel-
lent 3D graphics and sophisti-
cated flight models set the
standard. The latest improve-
ments include a refined dam-
age model, fresh terrain, and
the B-24 bomber. An all-new
version in development,
WARBIRDS 3.0, will raise the
bar higher still. The flaw is the
price; the cheapest plan costs
$1.50 per hour, and many a WB
ace gets hit with a huge three-
digit bill for flying time.

DAWIM OF ACES,
iEntertainment's WWI stable
mate of WARBIRDS, is a newer
game that shares most WB fea-
tures and is clearly the best
WWI sim available. It suffers
from the same pricing flaw,
however.

Kesmai's AIR WARRIOR III sol-
diers on with dated flight and
damage models, but offers an
attractive $10/month price for
unlimited play. A dedicated
community makes full use of
the numerous arenas and new
automated historical scenarios.
Continual updates refresh this
old vet and make it worth a
look. -John Nolan

CQMPUTIR GAMINE WORLD • cgw.gamespDt.com • MAY

Power Rankings for This Season s Top Contenders

BY TOM PRICE

S pring is in the air. Birds are singing; bees are buzzing; and across this great land, washed-
up lounge singers are practicing the national anthem— for baseball season has come
again. Many fans turn to the scouting reports to see if their team has the necessary tools
to go all the way. With this in mind, we did a little digital scouting of our own, and now present
to you the CGW breakdown of this year’s three big baseball contenders: MICROSOFT BASEBALL
2001, 3DO’S HIGH HEAT 2001, and EA Sports' TRIPLE PLAY 2001.

Can 3D0 Repeat as Sports Game Of Thp Year?

High Heat 2001

Last year’s record:

Developer: Team .366 |

Publisher; 3DQ

The follow-up to Computer Gaming World's 1999
Sports Game Of The Year is one of the most hotly antici-
pated games in the CGW offices. Many of us, carrying a
grudge from last season (which was "won" by Editor-in-
Chief George Jones in a shameless display of obvious
cheating which none of us can prove, but which would
explain his outrageous 68-13 record), are already looking
to gain an edge this time around.

Everything we've seen of HIGH HEAT 2001 suggests
that it will continue to improve upon last year's already
impressive gameplay, while adding all of the league and
team customization options that we were begging for.

Hello, Custom League

HIGH HEAT 2000 had one major failing; its limitations
in creating a custom league. To get a custom-drafted
league to work, you had to come up with a burdensome
work-around that involved extra tasks and simulating
games involving non-player-controlled teams. In our
interoffice league this year, we'll get to dispense with

the aforementioned, and set up a league with exactly as
many teams as we want, playing a schedule that will
foster as much interdepartmental resentment as human-
ly possible.

The game's on-field management— which allows a
wide variety of realistic decisions — is largely
unchanged, which is a good thing; they got it just about
perfect the last time.

Building on Perfection

What really set apart HIGH HEAT from the other base-
ball games that were released last year — or any year, for
that matter— was the exquisitely-modeled gameplay.
With this in mind.

the designers are
keeping the basic
game engine intact.
The second-to-none
pitcher/batter inter-
face hasn't changed,
but now bunting is a
lot more fluid, with
the bat's position no
longer limited to a
couple of points in
the strike zone. Base-
running, one of the

MAMA SAID KNOCK YOU OUT

One of the new animations involves out-
fielders running into walls.

MAV 2000 • cgiM.gamespol.ci

• COMPUTER GAMING WORLD

fGw weak points of HH2K, has been improved. Now
your runners won’t be afraid to run on a two-out fly ball.
Also improved this time around is the rate at which
players will fatigue. Each player now has an individual
ktigue rating, allowing you to more easily decide when
to give your star players the rest they need.

New to this year’s version is a nifty batting practice
feature, which will let you take swings against the
pitches (or the pitchers) that are giving you the most
trouble.

No More Nomar

The most notable update to the HIGH HEAT engine is
in the graphics department. Last year’s single Nomar
Garciaparra-esque player model has been given a few
new benchmates. The burly Albert Belle model looks
like it could lay off the donuts a bit, while the diminu-
tive model could almost be used to recreate Eddie

SWINGING OUTSIDE THE BOX Pitch replays are automatic atter
strikeouts, now. And after a walk, placement for your entire pilch series is
shown.

tion has been improved with the addition of animations
depicting players strolling into the batter's box, and
new camera- and replay-views.

The Bottom Line

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. HIGH HEAT made a serious
name for itself last year, capturing the hearts of nearly
everyone. HH 2001 looks like it will improve upon an
instant classic.

PROJECTED FINISH: 1ST

The Redmond Giant IVIahes Its Move

Microsoft Baseball 2001

Pub|i^her/Deve]og8r:jyi[crosof^

icrosoft is quickly build-
ing a name for itself in the PC sports market.
Last year, NFL FEVER and NBA INSIDE DRIVE
surprised sports fans and provided interesting competi-
tion for the genre's two-ton gorilla, EA Sports. But
MICROSOFT BASEBALL 2000 didn’t fare as well, though
it was dominated not by EA Sports’ TRIPLE PLAY fran-
chise but by 3DO’s award-winning HIGH HEAT 2000. It
seems as if Microsoft took HIGH HEAT’S successful
approach to heart. This year, they are definitely going
after the core audience of baseball sim fans.

Boosted fay Brainpower

By incorporating the code for the critically-acclaimed,
text-based BASEBALL MOGUL into the back-end of
Baseball 2001, Microsoft makes a strong move
towards enticing hardcore players who like to manage
all aspects of their team, MOGUL was a fascinating
baseball-and-business sim that allowed you to manage

Last year's reeord:
W2.5'iV

player salaries and ticket prices, as well as line-ups and
overall game strategies. The ability to do all this, and
then play the actual games in Microsoft’s engine, should
please both detail junkies and casual gamers alike.

Nice features include an economic model that lets you
trade players for cash, and team strategy sliders that
allow you to customize how the AI manages your team.
We’d still like to see more custom teams and leagues.

Love for the Game?

The ultimate challenge, however, is replicating the joy
we have for the real-life sport by giving us the visceral
feel of playing baseball on the PC. In other words, does
Microsoft's BASEBALL 2001 have The Love?

MS BASEBALL 2000 didn't, and our early look at this
year’s version gives us the same impression. Most of
this can be blamed on the awkward and confusing
implementation of the most crucial aspect of any base-
ball sim: the pitcher/batter interface. As in last year’s
version, BASEBALL 2001 reveals pitch placement prior to
the pitcher's delivery. This negatively affects pitch-
selection strategy and reduces the drama of each at-
bat, as each player can see the intended result before
each pitch. Turn off the cursor and you're essentially
pitching blind, with ball placement left up to guess-
work and luck. Fielding is straightforward, but the
pathfinding for the outfielders needed a little work in
the beta version of the game we played. We expect
Microsoft to have this fixed by show time. In a neces-
sary nod to reality, players will make throwing errors
in this year's version— but injuries remain nonexistent.

Polished Up

Although their animations are slightly robotic,
BASEBALL 2001’s player models are incredibly realistic,
with several different
body types, batting
stances, swings, and
pitching motions. A
good job has been
done of importing

photos of the players'
faces onto the polygonal
heads as well. The game
features nicely polished
menu screens and inter-
faces that make up for
what are otherwise lack-
luster stadiums.

It would be useful if
more information— like current pitcher and batter
stats— was displayed more frequently than before the
first pitch of each at-bat. And the baserunner radar can

COMPUTER 0AMIM6 WURID • cgw.gatnespDt.com • MAY

BASEBAL.I- BOOl

POINT AND HIT Microsoft's liizarro
Lalliiig/pitching interlace is still its
LiggesI weakness.

Bill ««

be a little disorienting
in that it tracks both
basemnners and
fielders at the same
time. But at least it
will give you both
sets of data in the
same space.

The Bottom Line

MICROSOFT
BASEBALL 2000 was
a decent, good look-
ing baseball sim
that suffered the
same shortcomings that have plagued the PC base-
ball genre for years; lack of gameplay. Its strong
points— lifelike player models, a large number of
pitch types, and above-average presentation val-
ues— all make their way into this year’s version;
unfortunately, so does the convoluted pitcher/batter
interface.

BASEBALL 2001 improves on its predecessor in
some ways, but still doesn’t measure up to HIGH
HEAT. Yet. But the inclusion of the BASEBALL
MOGUL module is a nice touch that suggests that
the designers are aggressively seeking a title. This
could pay off big in next year’s edition.

EA Sports Stands Pat

Tripl e Play 2 001

Publisher/beveloDer: EA Sports

Last year’s record:
☆ 2 . 51 ^

I t'S a sad sight when a big-time star begins to mail it
in. Apparently satisfied with the success of TRIPLE
PLAY 2000 on video-game consoles, EA Sports is
unvhlling to do much more than port the PlayStation ver-
sion over to the PC. This year’s version of the vaunted
franchise hyper-extends
realism in favor of a
more arcade-like experi-
ence that seems to be
aimed more at the
Mountain Dew-swiUing
console crowd than PC
baseball fans.

Mini Mogul

Like Microsoft's
BASEBALL 2001, this
year’s TRIPLE PLAY has
an economic system
that uses points instead of actual dollars to let you man-
age the finances of your team (though to nowhere near
the extent of the Microsoft game).

Although you can draft your own team, other team
and league customizations are limited. One cool func-
tion is the trade system, which generates trade offers
by and between computer-controlled teams. The one
aspect where TRIPLE PLAY trumps the competition is in

FACE OFF Face in the Game technoloQy
makes players like Jaret Wright instantly
recognizable.

the inclusion of legendary players who belong to the

500 Home Run Club. You can even draft this roster—
which includes Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron— onto your
team. Or you can simply use them in Home Run Derby.

TRIPLE PLAY ZOOTs gameplay hasn’t changed too
much from last year, which is a disappointment. The
pitcher/batter interface, among other on-field elements,
could have used some help. Instead, EA Sports is pump-
ing up the “extreme" elements of the game by incorpo-
rating power-ups, hidden players, and weird stadiums.

The game's Home Run Derby is licensed by Major
League Baseball’s Big League Challenge, an update to
the classic Home Run Derby TV show from the 60’s,
being remade this season for ESPN. Unfortunately,
these contests are held in fantasy-themed ballparks
with bonus targets and other weirdness.

EA is well-known for its above-average graphics
engines; TRIPLE PLAY is no exception. Player models
look fairly realistic if a little bit chunky, and player faces
are well done.

Like most other EA Sports' titles, their Face in the
Game technology, which allows you to put your own
face on the players you create, is included. Twenty-six
different batting styles— from Mark McGuire to Babe
Ruth— have been included to add more realism.

EA should be commended for trying out their new
first-person perspective for fielding. It's an interesting
idea, but I doubt anyone will find it serviceable.

The Bottom Line

If EA Sports is happy with the console sales of TRIPLE
PLAY, and is uninspired to chase after 3DO and
Microsoft for the PC baseball market, this could signal
the end of the TRIPLE PLAY franchise on the PC.

But the scary thing is that last year’s version of
TRIPLE PLAY— which was vastly inferior to 3DO’s HIGH
HEAT— still managed to top the charts in the baseball
category. Maybe there are more “extreme" baseball
fans than we think.

PROJECTED FINISH: 3RD

D CO II n surprises in the PC

nCMAr baseball game this year. Barring some hor-
rible, bug-ridden catastrophe, HIGH HEAT
2001 should easUy walk away with the honors as this
year’s best baseball game. The only real question in our
minds is whether or not it will repeat as the Best Sports

Game Of The Year. The game to watch, however, is
Microsoft’s. Their forays into PC sports titles have been
fairly interesting and impressive thus far. We expect big
things out of the boys in Redmond, who are rapidly
building momentum and could be serious contenders
next year.

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V\le reviews only
finished games-
no betas, no patches.

A fter DIABLO's remarkable success, it's sur-
prising that it has taken three years for
the predictabie wave of clones to arrive.

It's even more shocking that, unlike the slew of
real-time strategy clones that followed
WARCRAF II and COMMAND & CONQUER,
most DIABLO clones have actually p.oven to be
quality games - and NOX continues that trend.
VWiile few elements in NOX are entirely novel,
Westwood has created a polished
provides challenging and
entertaining single-player campaigns
and multiplayer battlegrounds.

NOX’s isometric perspective and
action/RPG gameplay are unquestion-
ably reminiscent of DIABLO, but NOX
provides a more arcade-ish, action-ori-
ented experience. Character move-
ment is quick and combat is ve^ fast-
paced. Only enemies can be attacked,
and - unlike some traditional RPGs -

Fast-paced action;
great interface;
distinct character
types and single-
player campaigns;
solid Ai.

I\Id difficulty
levels; no cooper-
ative multiplayer
campaigns.

there are no ethical codes. If the game permits
you to destroy an object, slaughter a creature, or
pilfer possessions, then rest assured that it’s the
right thing to do. Since causing chaos isn't
penalized, action is almost constant as your
character frantically runs through levels, smash-
ing objects and dispatching foes.

Deathmatch RPG

Multiplayer NOX is a pure action game that
features respawning items, quick kills, and geo-
graphically limited arenas; and it's completely
devoid of character development, NPCs, or
monsters. It's closer to an isometric, swords-
and-sorcery version of QUAKE than it is to
DIABLO. Multiplayer characters immediately pos-
sess all of their class' abilities and spells (other
than those removed for gameplay balance),
which makes the deathmatch, capture the flag,
and other multiplayer games included more tac-
tical than they typically are in first-person shoot-

Requirements: Penliiiin II or Psntuni 2D0 MMX, 32MB RAM, 300MB hard dhvB space.
Reccmmendeit Requirements: P-ll 2G6, 64MB RAM.

3D Support: None Multiptayer Support; Up to 32 players river Westwood On-line, or by IAN.

Publisher/ Developer: Westwood Studios • $39.95 • www.westwood.com
ESHB Rating: Teen; animated violence.

■ how do we RnTEPl

■ SPOTLIGHT REVIEW: NOX

Westwood's Polished RPG Is More Than a Fast-Paced DIABLO Clone

Don’t Knock Nox

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

ers. Still, multiplayer NOX may not experience the longevity that more
visceral shooters have enjoyed.

The single-player campaigns feature a few additional RPG ele-
ments, as characters acquire experience points and solve simple
quests, but the gameplay emphasis remains on action. The campaigns
are linear and level-based, so there's no way to personalize your expe-
nence other than through your choice of attire and armaments,
Surprisingly, there are no difficulty settings, so you'll have to be adept
with occasionally frantic action in order to complete the campaigns.
Fortunately, NOX features a remarkably intuitive and effective hotkey
interface that permits you to quickly change weapons or access avail-
able spells and abilities. There's never been a more efficient interface
in an action/RPG.

Each of the three character classes has a separate campaign, but
you'll travel through most of the same areas and have the same overall
quest. The classes have significantly different abilities and the cam-
paigns play out differently, even when you're exploring familiar territory.
While a wizard may peacefully stroll through a stronghold, a warrior
may be immediately attacked.

As far as plot goes, it’s pretty uninspired. A dislocated trailer-trash
youth must assemble a multi-component artifact and stomp undead
hordes led by a maniacal necromancer queen. The campaigns are sat-
urated with brief, but entertaining, scripted sequences that play out
using the game's engine. Westwood has a penchant for adding goofy

Killing Time

N othing can give white hair to CGW's Managing Editor— the guy
responsible for getting the other editors to turn in their work on
time— like the arrival of an addictive game in our offices. Everything
comes to a complete stop as editors ignore piles of work to play the latest
game for eight hours straight. (OK, we're exaggerating a bit; we do break
for lunch.) Cunently, it's THE SIMS that has the staff by the short ones, but
for some strange reason, current Managing Editor Chris Lombardi isn't
complaining, which is a little unusual.

When QUAKE took over the office in 1995, then-ME Ken "Genghis" Brown
tried everything from begging to crying to running around naked with his
hair on fire to get people back to work, to no avail (although that little
episode was the inspiration behind a very cool QUAKE skin).

In 1998, Joe "Woody" Vallina couldn't get us to take down our HALF-LIFE
server, so he gave up and played with us with the proviso that anyone he
dropped with the crossbow had to get back to work immediately. And back
in December, UNREAL TOURNAMENT dominated our office to such a degree
that Lombardi snuck in after-hours and confiscated the 3D cards from every
PC. Thank God for software rendering.

But now we think we have this whole ME problem figured out. You see,
we assigned the review of THE SIMS to

Lombardi. How can he bitch at us for ■

playing while he's in his office with the
door closed, trying to up his fun rating ‘ ■yj'

while managing his bladder (and playing r , V j / • '

THE SIMS, to boot)? We just got word .

that HIGH HEAT 2001 has gone gold. Hey

Chris, you want to do another review? ' ^

-Tom Price \

Motivational techniques by Ken Brown [

MAY REVIEWS

Aces Htnh

Final Fantasv VIII

Hidden

Dangerous: Devil's Bridge

Mind Rover

TA: Kingdoms, Iron Plague

■ un inc Duui i : iiib duiiuii idiBiy SlUWS UUWII,

youTe cashing in your ill-gotten goods. The campaigns are
with brief - but entertaining - scripted sequences.

The next time a snooty German
makes a rude comment about how we
Yanks made DEER HUNTER the top-selling
game in the U.S., you can whip out a copy
of 1602 A.D. and slowly, deliberately begin
to chuckle.

-Jason Kapalka reviewing 1602 AD

CDMPUTER GAMING WORLD •

It. com • MAY 2DQD

REVIEW

ROi-E-RL-AYlIMB

humor to its RPGs, and the buffoonery here works better than in the
past couple of LAND OF LORE games, partially compensating for the
plot's lack of originality. There’re a few big laughs, such as an early
scene in the wizard campaign when an expected showdown with a
formidable nemesis is prematurely cut short in comical Raiders of the
Lost Ark fashion.

See No Evil

NOX’s most distinctive features are its method for handling your
character’s line of sight, and its interactive environments. The game
uses a line-of-sight system that blacks out areas behind trees or other
obstacles that characters couldn’t reasonably see beyond. The effect
isn't revolutionary, since
1983’s ULTIMA III featured a
rudimentary version of a simi-
lar system, and it can be more
distracting than interesting. It
does give NOX a distinctive
look, however, and it's easy to
adjust to the onscreen
automap if you require addi-
tional navigation.

NOX'S levels are littered
with moveable furniture,
bones, and other objects.

Occasionally you must use
these objects to solve puzzles

- moving a crate
over a pressure
plate, for instance

- but usually the
objects are just
there to be
smashed or
hurled wildly
when they're
struck by explo-
sive spell effects.

A lot of attention
to detail went into
NOX's level
design, as
dwellings are dec-
orated with appropriate objects, and subterranean lairs look suitably
homey for their troll inhabitants.

NOX’s two-dimensional, isometric graphics are highly detailed and
similar in style to those in ULTIMA ONLINE and DIABLO. While some
upcoming isometric RPGs like BALDUR’S GATE 2 feature limited sup-
port for 3D video cards, NOX relies instead on those mysterious.

superseded MMX protocols you heard so
much about in 1 997 to create its impres-
sive spell effects. Three different resolu-
tions are supported (640x480, 800x600,
and 1024x768), but the highest resolu-
tion isn’t practical for most gamers, since
the characters look tiny and the screen
scrolling gets pretty choppy - even on
high-end machines.

The artificial intelligence of the mon-
sters and NPCs in NOX’S campaigns is
generally excellent. Al-controlled NPCs
will sporadically ally with your character
for the duration of a level. You’ll have no
direct control over these NPCs, but they'll capably follow your charac-
ter and engage any enemies you encounter. Conjurer characters can
also summon or charm creatures that will loyally carry out basic com-
mands until they are killed or banished. There are memorable levels
where settlements are attacked and you can acquire a whole flock of
allies to help fight the waves of intruders. Since the Al is so good,
however, it's especially disappointing that there are no cooperative
multiplayer campaigns.

The only notable Al flaw is that enemies at extreme visibility range
won’t react until they’re attacked. Since there are a variety of spells
and weapons that either kill enemies instantly or do massive damage,
you can pre-empt otherwise challenging battles by advancing slowly
and picking off immobile enemies as soon as they’re visible. Like
grandma used to say, nothing clears a path better than a gigantic Fist
of Vengeance. Or a Death Ray.

Who You Callin’ a Clone?

It’s unfair to simply dismiss NOX as a DIABLO clone, since the game
had been in development limbo for years prior to its acquisition by
Westwood. Westwood acquired the
orphaned NOX following the dissolution
of Virgin Interactive's U.S. gaming divi-
sion, and the company has done a great
job finalizing the game. Even though it
likely could have been released several
months ago, the additional attention to
detail put into the game has resulted in a
streamlined interface, solid single-player
campaigns and, overall, a considerably
more polished product. Even the installa-
tion program is almost as interesting as
the great one that shipped with the origi-
nal COMMAND & CONQUER.

NOX could easily have been a game
with a few original ideas that devolved
into a hastily developed, derivative, unin-
teresting clone. Instead, the developers
have taken the necessary time to create a
unique game that offers different and
enjoyab le sing le- and multiplayer experi-
ences. KdlV

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REVIEW

ROUE RUAYIIMG

FINAL FANTASY Vlll Is a Major Disappointment as a Port and as a Game

VUlieii Ports Go Bad

The Unbearable Boringness of Guardian Force

Even with all of these graphical and sound problems, there's one
simple thing that the developers could have done to redeem them-
selves. The major, and - in many gamers’ opinion - fatal flaw of
FINAL FANTASY Vlll PlayStation is the dreaded, uninterruptible
Guardian Force attack. For those of you not already familiar with the
game, Guardian Force attacks are a kind of combination summoning
spell and semi-party member. They evolve over time, using a compli-

L ike forks, coffee mugs, and black 3.5-inch disks with
something indecipherable written on them in pencil, the
omnipresent PlayStation is just a thing that you have, and
you don't know when or how you acquired it. So, a developer
creating a PC port of one of the most successful PlayStation
games ever made really needs to differentiate it from its console
incarnation by playing to the strengths of the PC platform.
SquareSoft's port of its PlayStation mega-hit FINAL FANTASY
Vlll not only doesn’t Improve upon the original, but, thanks to the
exactness of the port - more emulation than translation - it
manages to make an already flawed game truly awful.

FINAL FANTASY

reviewed by Erik Wolpaw

Looks Bad, Less Filling

Most PlayStation games run in 320x240. While that's pretty
chunky, when viewed from your couch six feet away, it's accept-
able. All of FINAL FANTASY Vlll'S complex backgrounds are ren-
dered in that low
resolution. Instead
of reworking the
graphics for the
PC version, the
developers decid-
ed to leave the
low resolution
intact, and the

game suffers because of if. Thanks to this decision, FINAL
fantasy's greatest asset on the PlayStation - its amazing pre-
rendered imagery - becomes its predominant flaw on the PC. The
backgrounds are blurry and pixilated. What looks good from six feet
falls apart at six inches.

Virtually all of the game’s dialogue is presented as on-screen text,
and even the font resolution hasn’t been upgraded from its console
counterpart. The font is jagged and amazingly ugly, and serves as a
constant reminder that you're not playing the game as it was meant
to be experienced.

The character models themselves have been upgraded somewhat;
FINAL FANTASY Vlll supports 3D acceleration and, apparently, this is
where the power of that device is being applied. However, rather than
adding any value to the game, the more detailed models simply clash
with the indistinct backgrounds, giving the graphics a nasty disjointed
look. The texture work on the models remains low-res, and could be
described most kindly as fuzzy.

PC sound hardware also appears to give the FINAL FANTASY Vlll
emulator a savage licking. On two different
systems, every scene transition (and there are
a lot of them) resulted in three or four seconds
of sfuttery sound and general slowdown. The
music, too, often sounds finny and distant.

And speaking of slowdown, while the game
generally runs at a good clip, the outside-
world navigation screens crawl. And here,
we're talking about slowdown noticeable and
painful enough that you could make a case for
calling it a bug. On the plus side, this area
isn't accessible until about fifteen or twenty
hours into the game, so you’ll probably be
back to playing PLANESCAPE: TORMENT
before you have to deal with it.

CGW RATED

It doesn t flat-out
crash, and it has a
fun suhgame.

Laziest console
translation ever.

ffequirements: Pentjum 20D. 32MB RAM. SMB 3D graphics cant. 300MB disk space. Recatnmended Requirements: P-ll 266. 64MB RAM. 16MB 30 cant.
3D Support: 3Dlx nVidia. Maticx, ATI. Multiplayer Support: None

Publisher: SquareSott/Electfonic Arts ■ Developer: SquareSott » $4D » wvdW.squaresoft.com » ESRB HalltiB: Everyone

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REVIEW

FINAL. FANTASY VIII

cated “junction" system that lets them gain new abilities.
They’re sort of like a Pokemon, only more confusing.

In battle, Guardian Force attacks quickly become your
primary offensive ability. When cast, every Guardian Force
is accompanied by an over-the-top but often beautifully
rendered animation. The problem, and it’s a big one, is
that these displays take upwards of a minute to present,
and you can’t interrupt them or turn them off. FINAL
FANTASY VIII doesn't buck the genre tradition of requiring
you to fight thousands of random battles to advance the
plot, meaning that you'll be watching these long anima-
tions many, many times. What's impressive at first soon
becomes annoying, and then - depending on your
patience and desire to perform rote, non-interactive com-
bat actions over and over again - unbearable.

The fact that this was the single biggest complaint with
the PlayStation version, and that the developers chose not
to expend the small amount of effort it would have taken
to fix it in the PC version, should be reason enough for
you to boycott FINAL FANTASY Vtll on general principle.
Maybe there's some technical reason it can't be done, but
since modern technology is capable of producing clones
and the U.S. government's amazingly realistic moon-land-
ing hoax - not to mention FINAL FANTASIES l-VII - I'm
going to apply Ockham’s razor and chalk it up to laziness.

Love and Money

If you’ve read this far and have no previous experience
with FINAL FANTASY VIII and are still considering purchas-
ing it and want more information, then perhaps you
missed three or four of the preceding paragraphs; but
fine, here's some more.

Eschewing the previous installments' tales of heroes
saving worlds from disaster, number eight's plot is smaller
and more personal, centering more on individual redemp-
tion and combat against evil of a less planet-imperiling
nature, while not forgetting to include lots of random fight-
ing. The series is famous for covering issues not usually
addressed by console RPGs. Topics such as love, betray-
al, and salvation are par for the course, and while these
are novel concepts for a video game, Beverly Hillbillies
The Movie included some love and betrayal, so these
ideas by themselves don’t necessarily guarantee com-
pelling entertainment.

SquareSoft has made a few interesting design choices
that represent a rethinking of some genre conventions.
Gone is the pursuit of wealth, armor, and weapons. Your
team gets a periodic stipend which you can use to buy
various basic supplies, but other than that, there's no
pressing need for money. Armor is essentially non-existent,
and, aside from each character's single standard weapon
(which can go through a few upgrades), your major offen-
sive tool is the aforementioned Guardian Force attacks.

Another feature worth mentioning is a very cool little
collectable card game called Triple Triad that appears
throughout the entire game. Triple Triad is an addictive,
simplified version of Magic and it's well integrated - rare
cards can be traded for rare items. It's a fun bonus, and
you may find yourself wishing you didn't have to slog
through the interminable other parts of FINAL FANTASY VIII
to get to your next card match.

Final Answer

No matter what your feelings are about FINAL FANTASY
VIII as a game, with some minor and a few major tweaks,
the PC version could at least have been a great reworking
of the PlayStation original. Unfortunately, the released
game is inarguably substandard because absolutely no
effort has been made to add value to the initial product.
And this from a company kn own fo r the quality of its work.
Shame on you, SquareSoft. 23U

Irvine

WE SHOP AT THE GAP Regular pants, workout pants, mantaloons... (pantaloons for
men). Also note blurriness.

1 s IT
.. ! i

4- ji i

IN CASE YOU DIDN’T GET THE POINT.... This battle scene really shows off the
brave pants-free position SquareSoft takes regarding female characters.

. ''

IS THERE A DRAFT IN HERE? Male members of SeeD wear pants. Female members
wear no pants.

Tee-hee, I m fine

MORE BLURRY PANTSLESSNESS If you’re going to have half-naked girls in the
game, you might as well put them closer up and less blurry.

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REVIEW ) SIIVIUI-ATiaN

ACES HIGH Raises the Online Air Combat Stakes

Mayhem at 30,000 Feet

Hit and Run Strafing in cannon-equipped aircraft like this La-SFN will destroy your ground
targets, but if the “ack” is up, it’s sheer suicide. Wait for the bombers to have their fun, and
then “vullch" (go for the vulture kill)!

I n an era of gigabyte-sized installs, it's simply
amazing what some guys can do with 6 megs of
disk space. Two key ex-programmers from the
renowned WARBIRDS franchise - Dale "HiTech"

Addink and Doug “Pyro" Balmos - have formed HiTech
Creations and produced a new WWII online air-combat
game using that tiny bit of magnetic real estate. ACES
HIGH has lots of features, too; it's not just a "bare
bones" fighter arena with average artwork and model-
ing. Small in stature, this game is large in promise.

Been There, Done That, Great Fun!

ACES HIGH isn't a revolutionary breakthrough in the
world of online air combat. If you've spent any time play-
ing WARBIRDS or AIR WARRIOR, you already know the
drill. Enlist in the Air Force of your homeland, fly against
opposing countries, and try to capture airfields from the
enemy. When any
side is reduced to a
single base, the
arena automatically
resets and the war
begins again. With a
worldwide online
player base, the action continues
around the clock, The hangar

presently offers 15 different aircraft, with two bombers to pound the
enemy defenses; 1 2 fighters to establish air superiority; and a para-
trooper-dropping C-47 to conquer the aerodromes. HiTech Creations
delivered new aircraft every month during the beta period, and more
are in production. All the standard favorites - like the Spitfire, P-51,
and BM 09 - are here, but a few interesting lesser-known models are
also showing up, like the Italian Maachi 205 fighter.

The ACES HIGH flight model is respectable, and offers a great com-
promise between playability and total realism. It isn't anything you
haven’t seen before, and - not surprisingly -it's pretty close to

WARBIRDS. The aircraft are more difficult to fly
well than AIR WARRIOR'S mounts, primarily

CGW RATED

on impressive
debut of a "hound
for glory" game
that slakes your
thirst for non-stop
WW n air combat
at a reasonable
price.

You d expect a
few "break-
through" innova-
tions in an all-new
online air-combat
game, but while
well-executed and
lots of fun, this

because of torque effects, However, they don't require the gentle
touch of WARBIRDS planes near the stall, so you can be pretty ham-
handed in an ACES HIGH cockpit without spinning the aircraft. If you
fly decently in the other games, you can fly this one. There'll be a peri-
od of adjustment, joyfully known online as "clubbing the baby seal,” but
eventually you'll be the predator instead of the prey,

The two biggest gripes with the modeling are drag and structural
failure. These planes are difficult to slow down in the "clean configura-
tion" even with the engine off. Using full rudder to slow down helps,
but there's work to be done in the drag department. Deploying gear
and flaps doesn’t cause much change in pitch or power either, and
that's another indication. Frustrating structural failures can occur with-
out warning in some aircraft. Since most of these fighters had at least
a -t-6 G limitation, there ought to be a visual cue to indicate that you’re
pulling enough G to bend something. Blackout
and red-ouf are modeled, as is buffeting, but you
can often rip a wing off without inducing these
effects, which is pretty strange. Pieces don’t just
snap off of airplanes without some kind of warn-
ing.

Good Picture, Excellent View

ACES HIGH features modern 3D graphics,
with five resolutions from 640x400 up to
1 600x1 200, using either 1 6- or 32-bit color,
Standard texture mapping is 64x64, but hi-reso-
lution 256x256 textures are available if you have
the horsepower to run them. It's all very good
stuff, but like the flight model, the competitive
graphics don’t shout “breakthrough." The view
system - perhaps the crux of any air-combat sim
- is excellent. For each aircraft, you can adjust
your "head" position and save over 24 “cus-
tomized" views. The system offers snap, pan, and
zoom modes; however, despite the anguished
wailing of some of the beta testers, there is no
padlock view and the cockpit artwork is non-

ane is “business

Requirements: Pcilium-ll 233. Pefillum MMX or betler, 03Q-cainpatibl3 video C8rd.loys1icli, sound cairl, spoakeis. 3D Support; Direct3D

as usual.'

Publisher; HiTech Creations • $29.95 per month * www.hitechcreations.com

MAY 2Q0D • cgw.gamespot.com • COMPUTiR GAMING WORLD

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REVIEW

removable (as it should be). You have to fly the airplane to keep the
bandit in sight and do it without view-key crutches. Some players do
view the zoom feature as a crutch, but ACES HIGH uses the “industry
standard" way of rendering aircraft in air combat maneuver games.

Bottom Line: Bucks

The trump cards of ACES HIGH are the quality components and its
$30/month unlimited-play pricing structure. This is a good game of
near-WARBIRDS quality, with a great player community. Gameplay is
essentially the same in all these games, so that’s not the major factor.
WARBIRDS may feature a slightly more difficult (or a bit more accu-
rate) flight model and a huge hangar full of different aircraft, but it's

LINING UP THE MONEY SHOT Super accurate, “zoomalile” liomb-
sights can take out tiny targets frcm six miles up. Knocking out structures
can limit the enemy's capabilities. This building is Radar HQ and it's going
down!

also prohibitively expensive. At the lowest WARBIRDS “Platinum pack-
age" price of $1 .50/hour, $30/month buys you 20 hours - a mere
moment in combat online. AIR WARRIOR - with rare revisions to its
dated flight, gunnery, and damage models - is only $1 0/month for
unlimited play, but it doesn't begin to give you the tangible feel of air
combat that ACES HIGH provides.

Furthermore, HiTech Creations' philosophy is that ACES HIGH wifi
probably never be a “finished" game. They promise constant develop-
ment and improvement in overall gameplay and technology, and a total
focus on this one game. So far, they’ve been true to their words, with
new aircraft and game features arriving every week or two. The “value”
should go up wh ile the price stays low. This one is good, and will only
get better. 233

^•ISOSPHesg

thwDmceJ

L^ On. Time In. Him it up.

Thousands of Online Radio Stations, instantly.

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music.zdnet.com/radiospy

REVIEW

WARCAME

CGW RATED

A fitting cap to the
Campaign series.

It took them five
games to get

RISING SUN Captures the Desperate Feel of WW II Jungle

South Seas Slugfest

Tokyo Express

While the A) in RISING SUN is decent and puts up a good fight, the multiplayer game
is spectacular. Up to 1 6 players can take part in Internet or LAN games, allowing for
many separate players per side. The network oode is simply glassy, with absolutely no
lag or hiccups, even with several players on slow dial-up connections. The PBEM imple-
mentation allows players to see a complete replay of an opponent's turn, and includes
password protection in case you suspect your opponent has his own Enigma machine.

Rising Sun takes the hex-based, sequential-turn wargame to a level of refinement pre-
viously unseen in a genre known for its preference for accuracy over polish. If you even
remotely enjoy this form of combat simulation, RISING SUN is your game. The mosquito
netting is extra. 2317

R ising sun does such a good job of bring*
ing the Pacific war to your computer that
you'd be wise to invest in some mosquito
netting. While the Campaign series has steadily
improved through its several iterations, the way
in which RISING SUN accommodates the many
special conditions unique to the Pacific theater
makes it far more than just a version of WEST
FRONT with funny-looking tanks. In fact, the
nature of jungle combat actually lends itself bet-
ter to the scale of the Campaign series, which
at 250 yards per hex make Eastern Front sce-
narios feel a bit cramped. Because of the
restrictive effects of jungle terrain on combat,
the close
ranges at
which

engagements
are fought in
RISING SUN
seem quite
authentic,

and do much to highlight the importance of high
ground and indirect fire, as well as the deadliness of close assaults. Don't waste those
mortars! Night combat, caves, banzai attacks, and many new terrain types round out what
has to be the most complete package available to tactical wargamers. Yet even with all of
this detail, the game preserves the elegant feel of the Campaign series.

RISING SUN provides a wide range of scenarios from introductory to very large and
complex, and complements the package with several campaign games, both dynamic and
linked. In keeping with Campaign series tradition, RISING SUN is practically a stand-alone
database of weapons, and the included scenario editor should allow players to transfer
their favorite battles to the computer screen with a minimum of difficulty.

RISING SUN

fEvieweti by Bruce Geryk

Re^inrejnents; PMiuni 20DMH2. 32MB RAM. AX GD-nOM, 70MS Hard drive space. 2M8 video card. 3D Support Nona
MuRipbyer Support Internet or LAN (2-1B players), niodem/serial (2 players), one CD par player.

Publishn-; Take Two Interactive • Developer: TalonSoft • S45 • www.talonsotLcom

RSAC Rating: 1: Violence, damage to realisbc objects.

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REVIEW STRATEGY

Found a New Civilization — ^Then Watch it Flounder Helplessly and Diel

Doomed To Repeat the Past

C ertain phrases in the 1602 A.D. press kit sent shivers up my
spine. Specifically, these were; “#1 Best Selling Game of All
Time in Germany!" and “PC Heft & Spiel Game of the
Year.../Sflff." When it takes two years for the #1 German computer
game to find a stateside publisher (aging all the while, rather unlike
fine wine), one can't help but wonder what in the world the #2 and #3
bestsellers in Germany were - BEER HUNTER, BARBIE'S SCHNITZEL
MAKER, or what?

1602 A.D., in any case, turns out to be a city-building strategy game
set in a rather abstract New World. Players anxious for a successor to
COLONIZATION or CONQUEST OF THE NEW WORLD will be disap-
pointed to learn that instead of competing to colonize the Americas
against Spain, Portugal, and England, you'll struggle against the omi-
nously-titled Red, Blue, and Yellow Players for control of a very small
chain of Gilligan-esque tropical islands. More than anything else, 1602
A,D. resembles CAESAR III and its
sequel PHARAOH, but with itsy-
bitsy pilgrims and pirates instead of
toga dudes and hippos.

Like any good explorer of a New
World, I decided to keep a journal
of my discoveries, which I’ll share
with you now:

0 min; After ESCing through a predictably lame CGI intro, I glean
false hope as I breeze through the tutorial missions in about eight min-
utes fiat.

8 min: Start “free-form'’ game. Problems arise three hours in when I
realize that I've run out of tools, the traders
aren’t selling any more of them, and I have no
idea where or how to find Iron to make my
own. Restart,

4 hours: Find lots of tobacco, spice, and
sugar, but no iron, making it difficult to advance
beyond Flinstone tech levels. Manual oddly reti-
cent about this seemingly vital task. Eventually
trigger “iron detection" feature accidently when
my brow impacts the keyboard.

6 hours: Puzzle over the strange icon of
what seems to be a scoop of Kellogg’s Raisin
Bran that has been appearing over my build-
ings intermittently. The manual helpfully

instructs me to “Draw
your conclusions and
correct the problem.” In
this I fail. Budget drops
hopelessly into the red. Restart.

10 hours: Still trying to figure out the eco-
nomic/city model, which bears little resem-
blance to SlMClTY, CAESAR, or, for that matter,
reality. Industries don't appear to need citizens
to work them, while residents don’t seem to
care if their house is located between a gal-
lows and a cattle farm. Run out of tools again.
Restart.

13 hours: Finally succeed

Unquestionably
the best

I CAESAR/SiMCiTY
I knock-off to ever
I come out of
I Germany, after
I THE SEHLERS i, fl,
and III.

Economic model

more confusing

than the Cabinet

of Dr. Caligan

building an iron
mine and tool factory on a nearby island and
spend an hour puzzling out the intricacies of
the “auto-trade" system. As my bank account
again slips inexorably into the red, I note that

the narrator’s announcement that “The alcohol is running out!" carries
far more urgency than his notice that "There is not enough food,"
which perhaps is why there are half a dozen different structures
required to produoe beer. Restart.

20 hours: Feeling confident enough to try one of the many cam-
paigns and scenarios instead of the "sandbox" mode. Pirates, who
helpfully do not show up on the radar map, immediately sink my single
irreplaceable ship. Restart.

25-1- hours: Start eyeing "Uninstall" icon
hungrily. Restart, Restart. Restart,

In fairness, the game does have a weird,
counter-intuitive charm that keeps you coming
back, restart after restart - at least if you’re a
reviewer who isn’t allowed to just go back to
THE SIMS. And if nothing else, the next time a
snooty German makes a rude comment about
how we Yanks made DEER HUNTER the top-
selling game in the U.S,, you can whip out a
copy of 1 602 A.D. and slowly, deliberately,
begin to chuckle. K'i'.'l

flequiremenls; Penliimi IBBMIlr, 32MB ilAM, ICBMB hart drive space. Hecommendeti Requirements: Pentium 2Dfl, D4MB RAM. 30 Support: None

Multiplayer Support: UN (2-4 players), ineilein. serial cnnneclions (2 players), one CD per player.

Publisher: 6T Interactive • Developer: Sunflowers • $30 • www.gtinteractive.com • ESRB Rating; Everyone; animatetl violence.

110

MAY 2000 • c g w. g a m es p 0 1 .c D Ri • COMPUTER GAMING WORLD

I Visft www.esrti.org
or cal l•n)-77f-3772
fornweitfo. I

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REVIEW

RACIIMQ

If So, Then Ratbag Has a Game for You

Bored By Asphalt?

■ had one tliought in mind when I first ioaded Ratbag's DIRT TRACK
RACING: Red Man chewing tobacco. Even though i know better
than to pre-judge games, with this one I just couidn’t help
myself. Hell, is there anything else in contemporary America that bet-
ter evokes images of a cheek full of tobaccy, the video for John
Mellencamp's “Pink Houses," and a ’65 Chevy Bel Air rusting on
somebody's front lawn?

Man, was I on the wrong page. While DIRT TRACK RACING sure is
redneck-friendly, it does not bow to the lowest common denominator.
This is a great racing title, period, it’s packed with excitement and
boasts an immersion factor that's second to none. It's right up there
with NEED FOR SPEED: HIGH STAKES as one of the finest racers of
the past year. And as much fun as I had with NFS:HS since its
release last summer, after two weeks with Ratbag's game I'd have a
tough time deciding which to take with me to a desert isle.

Doing That Bump and Grind

Gamepiay consists of guiding hunks of junk around short dirt ovals
located in small towns across the United States. Races are chaotic
affairs, both because of the friction-
free earth beneath your tires and
because of narrow tracks that turn
every attempt to pass into a bump-
and-grind frenzy. They're also more
intense than the average NASCAR
event, since the courses are so short
(expect to take a lap in no more than
1 8 seconds). Computer opponents
are vicious at the higher difficulty set-
over the place in their attempt to

DIRT TRACK
RACING

reviewed by Brett Todd

tings, and will freely bounce you a
gain that vital few extra feet.

While you can stage one-off races, they're just warm-ups for my
favorite part of DIRT TRACK RACING: career mode. You start off with
a measly thousand bucks that’s just enough to get you an aged '60s
or ’70s era muscle car (given fake names like Jupiter and Mars here,
but look closely and you’ll recognize Chevy and Chrysler silhouettes),
and a spot in the lowly Stock Class. From there, you work for cash
purses and sponsorships that bring in additional green needed for
car repairs, purchases, and upgrades. Vehicles are fully configurable,
so expect to spend some time playing with gear ratios, weight distrib-
ution, and the like.

Success doesn't come easy. Prize money is next to nothing at first,
forcing you to drive consen/atively to avoid high repair bills (if you're
playing with “realistic damage” on). One or two serious early colli-
sions, and you'll be left without enough money

to fix your ride - meaning that it’s time to

restart your career or load a save. Some might
not like the nickel and dime stuff here, but
nobody should expect life to be glamorous
when racing in places like LaFargeville, NY.
Personally, I enjoyed the gritty attention to real-
ity. It adds a lot to the game's longevity, and
makes you think twice before trying to bump
your way to the head of the pack.

The Internet multiplayer option is another
serious plus. Ratbag did a great job with this,
providing an online experience that is virtually
lag-free. About the only drawback is the 1 0-

CGW RATED

Each

packed

mayhem than a
dozen NASCAR

Ratbag

POUUERSLIDE

this

nor a

game

freaks

control

player maximum, which isn't much when you consider that NASCAR
Racing 3 supports fields of 32 drivers.

You Got the Look

The look of DIRT TRACK RACING will be familiar to veterans of
Ratbag's previous racing effort, POWERSLIDE, as each uses the
same graphical engine. It again does the job more than adequately,
with well-drawn - yet still blocky - muscle cars, and a host of
depressingly atmospheric rural racetracks. At the same time, howev-
er, the engine is still rather colorless. Let's put it this way: It renders
all the browns and blacks that make up the standard dirt track in a
way that would make the people at id Software proud.

Racing games just don't come any better than this. The “bedlam on
wheels" races, fantastic career mode, and outstanding Internet multi-
player support make DIRT TRACK RACING a good bet for anyone
who likes to hook a wheel and pedal set to their PC. And at a retail
price of less t han $ 20, you'll have plenty of cash left over tor a big
bag of chaw. 233

Requirements: Penliura IBBMHr MMX, 32MB RAM, DirBclX B.O-coniualil)lB soiKid ami video canls, 8X CD-ROM ilrlvQ, BOMB tiani drive spea.

Recommended Requirements: Peiiliera 233MRz MMX, BdMB RAM, 3D-accclcralor video card (nwsl cuneat chipsBts suiiporteii), 22QMB hard drive space,
3D Support: Direci3D, Blide, Wlultiplayer Support: Up la 10 players via UN. TCP/IP.

Publisher: WizardWorks • Developer: Ratbag • $20 • www.wizworks.GDm • ESRB Rating; Everyone

112

MAY 20 00 • cgw.gamespot.CDm * COMPUTED CAMING WORID

5 cnmERA uiEws mauom HEnocnm'

Colin McRae Rally"

Interested yet?

IS the international
best seller and it’s
speeding towards
your PC now!

Colin McRae Rally ' Is the nearest most of us will ever
get to experiencing the thrills and spills of high octane rallying.
It's the driving game designed to the limit to push you
to the limit.

Ever heard of Colin McRae?

He’s a hard racing Scot, the world class rally champion
they all know as the Flying Scotsman - the sport's fastest,
most exciting driver.

Ever heard of rallying?

It's the white knuckle ride to end them all -
high powered high performance cars taking on some of the
world's toughest terrains against the clock. Rallying is
motorsport at the edge, on snow, mud and ice in all weathers.

RACINC3

REVIEW

All the Thrills of Motorcycle Racing, Without the Asphalt
Burns and Crazy Insurance Premiums

Sit Down and Hang On

Publisher: EA Sports • $40 * www.ea5port8SupBrbikB.CDm « ESRB Ratjng: Everyone

Requirements: 233MH2 pracesscr, 32MB HUM, 300MB lianl titive space, 4x CB-ROM, RecommcmlBd Requirements: 2B6MKz pnicessor, B4MB RAM, Ox GD-ROM,
BMB graphics accelerator, 3D Support: BirecI 3B Multiplaver Support: 2-8 players via LAN aai) Inleniet

throttle, lift his front tire about six inches off the track, and ride
through the corner on his back wheel. Yes, SUPERBIKE 2000 will let
you ride like that and no I’m not that good. Kenny, you're still my hero.

Blue Flag Special

If you like racing games and/or motorcycles, you shouldn’t pass up
this title. It’s beautiful, stable, and a whole lot of fun. If racing games
in the past have left you cold, give this one a try. The a ddictiv eness of
SUPERBIKE 2000 may just be enough to convert you. SHU

I don't know what's in the water at EA, but they should bottle it
and sell it to other publishing houses. What they do best is make
superior games, and SUPERBIKE 2000 is certainly a superior
game. Accessible to novice and seasoned riders alike, this game truly
captures the essence of what makes motorcycle racing exciting,

Some Assembly Required

Talk to a racing engineer and you'll find they speak their own lan-
guage. From gear ratios to tire compounds, you’d be amazed at the
diligence required to keep one of these machines tuned for a sprint
to the checkered flag. SUPERBIKE 2000 lets you choose between
having the details managed for you or becoming a control freak, with
many levels of control in between.
Hey, if you want to stretch out third
gear, that's your choice.

In talking about the tracks, I'm
going to focus on the one I know
best, Laguna Seca in Monterey, CA.
The first time I did a lap around
Laguna Seca in SUPERBIKE 2000, 1
had a very strong feeling of dej^i vu.
You see, a few years back I actually
worked for the SCCA at Laguna Seca on race weekends, I’ve walked
that track many times, and let me tell you, I was stunned at how real-
istically the track is modeled in this game. Stunned. From turn three
leading around the back of the course, to the corkscrew, to infamous
turn nine, this is Laguna Seca. Now, you too can find out why this is
one of the premier road-racing courses in the world. Doing free prac-
tice laps, you can almost imagine that it's a sunny Friday afternoon in
Monterey. It's as close as you’ll come without a pit pass or a sponsor.

Need Some Help, Sparky?

Also welcome is the number and variety of assists available to
those new to racing bikes. With all assists turned on, 1 could probably
teach my cat to pilot a bike around a track. On the other end of the
spectrum, it's clear that the people who really ride these machines
are superhuman. Acceleration, shifting, and braking are all perfectly
modeled. Come into a corner too fast, and you'll slide right out of the
apex like a wet watermelon seed. Brake early, lean into the turn with
proper body position, roll the throttle on as you pass the apex, and
you’ll glide through the corners like a gentle spring breeze. Panic and
grab the brakes with the bike kicked over in a turn, and you'll be pick-
ing your machine up off the ground.

The exhilarating sense of speed is one of
SUPERBIKE 2000’s best elements. Even with-
out the assists, I had an easy time telling when I
was going too fast or too slow. After kicking all
the difficulty settings up, I decided to try a trick
that I saw pro rider Kenny Roberts do many
times. Kenny would come flying through a cor-
ner and roll up onto the apex burm, which is a
raised concrete patch on the inside of the cor-
ner, covered with nasty little ridges. Most riders
would either vibrate like a jackhammer or eat it
right there in the corner when facing the burm,
but not Kenny. He’d just downshift, grab some

CBW RATED

Great game,
around.

This space inten-
tionally left blank

SDPERBIKE

reviewed by Greg Fortun

GET HOOKED UP FOR LESS

Get an extra $10 off our already low prices!*

If you spend $100 or more, we'll give you $20 off!

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Wheel Thunder
Beaerk

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Carrier

Crazy Taxi

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Dead or Alive 2

Draconus: Cult ot the Wyrm

ECW Hardcore Revolution

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Hidden & Dangerous

Jeremy McGrath Supercross 2000

Jojo's Bizarre Venture

Maken X

MOK2

Metropolis

NHL2K

Nightmare Creatures 2

Omikron

Plasma Sword

Resident Evil Code Veronica

Roadsters

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PlayStation

I Anime DVD

I Blue Submarine 6 - Blues (V.D
ICatnappedI The Movie
ICowboy Bebop
iNazca-Blood Rivals
iPokemonCharizard!

I Pokemon Totally Togspil
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ITrigun The $60,000,000,000 Man

S17.45|

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Strategy Guides

Allen Resurrection

PSX

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Crusaders of Might & Magic

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Oalkaiana

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•'s Palace 2000
Colin McRae Rally
Colony Wars Red Sun
Crusaders of Might 8> Magic
Oarkstone
Dead or Alive 2
Deception 3 Dark Illusion
Die Hard Trilogy 2
Dragon Valor
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ESPN Major League Soccer
Fear Effect
Gauntlet Legends
Grind Session
Hydro Thunder
International Rally
Jackie Chan Stunt Master
Jeremy McGrath Supercross 2000
Lego Rock Raiders
MedlEvil 2

Motocross Madness
NASCAR Rumble
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I Nightmare Creatures 2
I Omikron: Nomad Soul
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'Saga Frontier 2
Sim Theme Park
Softball Slam
Speed Punks
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Syphon Filter 2
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Nintendo 64

AirBoardin USA
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Carmageddon 64
Cyber Tiger

ECW Hardcore Revolution
Excitebike 64
nghier's Destiny II
Hydro Thunder

nternational Track S Field 2000
Jeremy McGrath Siipercross 2000
'Looney Tunes Space Race
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Nintendo 64. Grape
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Perfect Dark
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Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
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X-Men

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Game Boy Color

1942

Armada Secret Weapon
Army Men
BattleTanx

Blaster Master Enemy Below
ECW Hardcore Revolution
KISS Psycho Circus
Magical Tetris Challenge
Metal Gear Solid
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Toobin'

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Windows :

Vampire: The Masquerade I
Redemption S44JS

Arcatera S36.95 1

B17 Flying Fortress 34.95B

Boarder Zone 34.951

Cabela's Big Game Hunter 3 Expansion Pack 16.951
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Chess 2000 26.95 1

Command S Conquer Tiberian Sun Firestorm 27.95 1

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NoX

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r*.

QUICK HITS

MIND ROVER

E very year at places like MIT, contests
are held between robots. The tasks
range from bumping robots out of an
arena to running a maze. If you've ever had a
yen to build robots like those - and maybe
toss in a rocket launcher for good measure
- then MIND ROVER is for you.

MIND ROVER is both a strategy game and
a “software toy" You design robots by pick-
ing attributes like propulsion type, motors,

sensors, weapons, and so on. However, the real heart of
the game is tying all the various parts together with
“wires." You do this in a sort of virtual breadboard, and
the wires are really circuits with conditions and outcomes you set. For example, you
might set the radar to tell the steering to move toward an object when it sees some-
thing, With some practice, you can program some pretty complex behaviors.
Unfortunately, the debugging tools are almost nonexistent. After you build your robot,
you test it in various scenarios, but they almost never work on the first try. So you have
to puzzle out each connection to figure out the problem.

The scenarios range from simple races around tracks to actual combat. From the
scale of things, the robots are only a little larger than remote-controlled cars, and most
of the contests take place onboard a fictional space station. After you’ve exhausted the
canned scenarios, you can import robots created by other users and compete against
them. It’s not exactly multiplayer, but it can be pretty unpredictable.

The game is cool, educational, and fun, and Cognitoy has done an excellent job of
supporting it with downloadable add-ons. You can only order MIND ROVER directly from
the Cognitoy Web site and there’s a goofy, morallyobjectionable pyramid discount
scheme in which you hand out email addresses so the company can spam your friends
with sales pitches. If you buy the game, make sure you download the 1.02 patch, which
fixes some nasty launch crash bugs. -Loyd Case

Genre: Strategy • Puhlisher: Cognitoy • Dcvelaper: Cognitoy • 845 • www.cognitoy.coni •
ESRB Rating: Everyone: animated violence^

TOTAL ANNIHILATION:
KINGOOMS, THE IHON PLAGHE

Genre: Strategy * Puhlisher: GT Interactive
Developer: Cavedog * S20 *
www.cavedog.com * ESRB Rating: Teen;
animated blood and violence.

W hen in doubt, add more guns. That
seems to be the theory behind THE
IRON PUGUE, the add-on to
Cavedog's semi-sequel TOTAL
ANNIHILATION: KINGDOMS. While it does a
fair job of

^ ^ ^ adding nifty

items and mis-
sions (as expansion packs are expected to
do), that's all it is: a fair job.

The main additions are a 25-mission cam-
paign and a new, fifth-side Creon. Creon
likes technology and not magic, which
means that all your little faeries and mages
are replaced with slightly-bigger, steam-dri-
ven automatons or guys with guns. Creon
might be a little too cool, though; combine
their gun-toting units with the most powerful
defensive structure in the game (the

Prismatic Mirror, a laser-tower on speed),
and you have a nigh-invulnerable base.
You're gonna need to rush a Creon player
before the first Prismatic Mirror gets built.

Internet-abhorring grognards will get a
ton of new maps, all downloadable units
released to date, the much-needed 2.0
patch that greatly improves performance,
and other online goodies that Cavedog has
released. Not-very-wired TA; KINGDOMS
fans will dig this pack. Otherwise, you'll
have to ask yourself if you really want big-
ger Zeppelins and more tanks with your
zombies in your RTS. -Thierry Nguyen

O ffering the diehard HIDDEN &

DANGEROUS fan nine new wonderfully
designed missions spread across three
campaigns,

A -k DEVIL'S

BRIDGETS

sabotaged. River Kwai-style, by just about
as many bugs as the original, some obnox-
iously-slow load times, and finicky VooDoo
3 support.

The missions take place in Poland,
Southern Greece, and the besieged city of
Bastogne, and include objectives such as
sneaking your four-man squad of British
SAS commandos behind enemy lines to
rescue captured agents, stealing top-secret
jet aircraft, or blowing vital bridges. Each
DB mission plays at an extremely challeng-
ing level, even for old-school tactical
sims/shooters. Alternating between the tac-
tical map and action screens becomes
more complex due to the multiple objectives
of most missions. The German troops’ Al
has been beefed up, so there’s no more
waltzing behind an unsuspecting bad guy
and popping a cap without consequences;
try that now and you'll only invite nearby
grenade-tossing sentries to the party.

New weapons like Thompson subma-
chine guns, German Parabellum sidearms,
and Ml Garand rifles are welcome, but
TalonSoft goofed by not including the one
feature fans really wanted; bug fixes. This
expansion pack is almost as buggy as the
original game, and sports hard lockups that
occur when you skirt the edge of the map,
and characters that can get stuck in ravines
until you surrender control of them and have
another squaddie command them to move.
All in all, DEVIL'S BRIDGE is a decent
expansion, but only if you enjoy overly chal-
lenging action/strategy combos, tactical
simulations, or are just a fan of H&D. If this
doesn’t describe you, you’re better off burn-
ing this bridge behind you. -Raphael
Liberatore

With Other
Sound Cards You
Hear Him Empty
His Weapon; I v

tMonster Sound MX 400 /

HSr Him J., i 4

Empty His Bladder.

I ‘:1L

S3's Diamond ^

Monster Sound

MX400 will rock your PC audio world. Based on ground- .

breaking technology from ESS and Sensaura, the Monster Ah
Sound MX400 adds a whole new twist to your gaming
experience with scorching 3D positional audio, so now you hear sounds
on a whole new axis — above and below you. And with true EJi
7 oa£/ output and Dolby Digital surround soundfyou create the ultimate s
PC home theater. Pius you can piay, download, store and ' i
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>0 UP YOUR AUDIO WITH MONSTER SOUND MXAOO— truly in a class by Itself!

AUDIO

COMMUNICATION HOME NEIVvioRKim'

DIAMOND

www.s3.com

Dave Salvator
and Ken Brown

I n this comer: the undefeated cham-
pion, weighing in at 800MHz, the
master of disaster that still domi-
nates the gaming world.. .Pentium III. In

the other corner, in leopard-skin shorts,
eyeing the competition hungrily, the
800MHz Athlon. Can the cocky contender
beat the reigning ruler for the title of top
gaming CPU? To find out, we brought in
— two almost identical sys-

tems from one source:
Alienware, which special-
izes in gaming PCs, We

then put them through a

torture test of system benchmarks and
actual game testing. As your referee and
color commentator, we can say that both
systems put up a helluva fight, and we
were a bit surprised by the results.

The following will be a three-round fight.
Unfortunately, you won’t be able to see
the round marker when she introduces
each one.

Round one will establish stability. Up
until now, AMD systems have been crash-
prone when using a SCSI controller with a
Vortex2-based sound card. But Alienware’s
AMD system uses an MSI motherboard and
EIDE storage components. Even though
their systems have Vortex2-based Aureal
cards, our evaluation rig aced all of its
tests without a complaint. Alienware’s
Intel-based Area-51 was also rock-solid, so
score this one a tie.

Round two deals with clock-speed perfor-
mance. As you're doubtlessly aware, Intel
and AMD have been struggling mightily to
beat each other's clock speeds (see our
story in Read.Me). At press time, AMD had
the lead on Intel with the availability of
850MHz machines (which we also tested).

If you compare just the 800MHz numbers,
Intel still maintains a slight clock-for-ciock
performance lead, but that lead starts to
fade when you consider that Alienware’s
Athlon 850-based Area 51; Aurora is $400
cheaper than their Pentium-lII machine.
This round was close, but by performance
numbers goes to Intel.

Round three is price vs, performance.

The only area where Intel still has the
edge over AMD is in SIMD floating-point
performance. Clock for clock, Intel was 20
percent faster in our 3D WinBench 2000
Processor Test, which exercises the CPU’s
floating-point SIMD hardware with a very
high triangle-count scene. However, the
two processors were close in nearly every
other measure of system
performance-most importantly, 3D
GameGauge scores. Given that, the focus
turns to price, and on this count
Alienware’s Athlon-based Aurora clearly
holds the advantage, coming in at $600
less and packing in twice the system mem-
ory than the Pentium-Ill system. That puts
Aurora on top with a TKO.

How They Stack Up

B oth Alienware systems ripped through our testing with nary
a hiccup. We tested using ZD's complete set of benchmark-
ing tools for each system component, Windows perfor-
mance, and games performance. Since we didn’t find any irregu-
larities in the numbers, we distilled the results to give you the
most pertinent info.

We give the nod (and it was close) to the Athlon-based Aurora,
because it stacked up very well in 30 GameGauge testing versus

the Pentium-ill-based Area 51: it packed twice as much system
memory, and was $600 cheaper. But either system will keep you in
the groove, and gaming very smoothly at high resolutions. If you're
set on getting a Pentium-lil-based box, Alienware 's 800MHz
Pentium-lll-based Area 51 is a burner, and was dead even with the
850MHz Athlon-based Aurora in 3D GameGauge testing. However,
Dell's Pentium-Ill offering has the 64MB DDR GeForce card and a
lower price tag (by virtue of Dell’s huge volume).

MAY 2000 • cgw.gainespDi.cam • COMPUTER GAMING WORLD

iifl

HARDWARE

Sn Both systems come loaded for bear, and include more than what

*^^***"* ^ """ mMMMJk m you'll see here. Head to www.aMenware.com for more details.

Alienware 800MHz Pentium-Ill

Memory 128MB PC800 RDRAM

3D Card ASUS V6800, 32MB DDR SDRAM

Monitor ViewSonic GS790 19"

Sound Card Diamond MonsterSound MX400

Speakers Klipsch ProMedia 4.0 THX

CD-ROM Pioneer 10X/40X DVD

Other Storage HP 9100i CD-R/W

DVD Decoder Hardware

Joystick Microsoft SideWinder

Precision Pro

Gamepad Microsoft SideWinder

Gamepad

System Speeds and Feeds

AMD

■ 850 MHz:

Highest Clocking Speed

128 KB

LI Cashe Size

' 512 KB, off-die, variable speed

12 Cache Size, Speed, Type

200 MHz, I.BGB/sec

Front-side bus interfece speed* j

‘Speed at which CPU talks to system memory interface j

[ PC100 SDRAM, 800MB/sec :

Memory Type, Peak Data Rate 1

AGP Interface

Intel

800 MHz
; 32 KB ^

: 512 KB, on-die, full clock s

NUMBERS GAME; On paper, Intel’s components are still faster, but Vla’s KX133 for the Athlon chipset will soon support AGP 4X and PC133 SDRAM system memory. Intel's 840
chipset - which was shipping but hard to find at press time - supports multiple channels of flORAM, which can allow peak system data rates to jump to 3.2GB/sec.

H ow do these CPUs stack up in terms of overall
system performance? This is a difficult question,
because it's not just a matter of pure CPU horsG'
power. You also have to consider the system chipset,
and the speeds of the Level 2 (L2j cache, front-side
bus, system memory, and AGP port. So who's got the
goods? Intel does hold a chipset advantage on paper
(as seen in the table, above), and this advantage
showed up in one isolated 3D WinBench test, but the

truth is that it was barely noticeable in actual game
testing, even at very high resolutions. The reason?
Even with 32MB DDR SDRAM GeForce-based 3D
cards — the fastest 3D gun going — both systems'
chipsets can process data fast enough even at
1 600x900x32-bit, so that the 3D card is still the "bot-
tleneck." At 60+frames per second, you should be
very happy — but in this case, the 3D card is what’s
keeping frame rates from going that much higher.

Alienware 800MHz Athlon

Memory 256MB PC133 SDRAM

3D Card Hercules 3D Prophet, 32MB

DDR SDRAM

Monitor ViewSonic E790B 19"

Sound Card Aureal Vortex II Super-Quad

Speakers Klipsch ProMedia 4.0 THX

CD-ROM Pioneer 10X/40X DVD

Other Storage HP 9100i CD-R/W

DVD Decoder Software

Joystick Microsoft SideWinder

Force Feedback Pro

Gamepad Microsoft SideWinder

Gamepad

Photos by Hayden Houser/
DIGITAL CLARITY

HARDWARE

Under the Heed

BY LOYD CASE

Pinhead Ergonomics

Why Can’t PC Connections Be as Easy as Consoles?

N ot long ago, while hooking up a couple of console
games for my daughters, I was struck by the
thought of how easy it was to connect everything. I

forgot about that thought until recently. What happened was
that my desktop (the wooden one, not the one on my screen)
decided to get my attention by bonking me on the head while I
was trying to align a DIN adapter. A few colorful expletives
later, I peered at the connector and realized that one of the
pins was horribly bent. Now, a mini-DIN adapter is actually a
relatively friendly connector, all things considered, but it's still
all too easy to munge a pin. Far worse are Ultra-Wide SCSI con-
nectors— 68 teeny pins that beg to be damaged. The connec-
tors for any of the Dreamcast connections, on the other hand,
are idiot-proof and a child could (literally) hook it up properly.

Then there’s USB, Excuse me, I need to take a gulp of
Maalox before tackling this. Ah, can't beat that taste. Now
where were we? Oh yeah...

Voodoo Ergonomics

I’m very happy that many PC monitors now have USB con-
nections— but why are they on the back of the display? In
some cases, they’re on the side, buried in small recesses that
force me to lift a heavy monitor to plug them in. Having USB
connections on monitors makes up a bit for the fact that the
vast majority of PCs put the connectors on the back of the
system. Yeah, I know that’s how motherboards are built, but
is this an excuse for the big OEMs to be lazy? (There are
exceptions, such as Compaq and Apple). Having the connec-
tor in an inaccessible location is aggravated by the connector
design. It's a symmetrical shape, but the internal connector
is asymmetrical. On top of that, there are no tactile cues, so
it’s a coin toss as to whether you’ll align it correctly, Murphy's
Law dictates that you have, more or less, an 80% chance of
alig nin g it wrong. I’m talking about the downstream (periph-
eral) connector here. Why couldn't they have made that con-
nector like the upstream connectors on some monitors? You
know the one— it’s shaped like an irregular pentagon, and it's
nearly impossible to connect incorrectly. You would think that
both ends of the cable would use this connector, but some
engineer thought differently.

Then there are, of course, software issues. The latest minor

We’ve got a long way to go
before plugging in a PC

peripheral is as easy as plugging
in a Dreamcast. Maybe
PC companies shouid
hire some nine-year-olds.

debacle is DirectX 7.0. 1 ran into this when checking out
Microsoft's new Precision Racing Wheel. It wouldn't work with
NASCAR 3; the game was getting values way out of whack
with what it expected. Oops, it turned out that USB/HID device
support was broken in Directinput as of DirectX 7.0. Didn't this
happen in DirectX 6.0 and DirectX 5.0? Will this happen again
in DirectX 8,0? Where's that Maalox?

And Another Thing...

Power connectors are a royal pain, too. There are two types
of device power connectors: the larger one — with four large
holes for very large pins— which is used to connect hard drives;
and the smaller, compact one that’s used mostly for floppy and
Zip drives. Wiry doesn't the industry move to the more com-
pact, floppy-style power connector? It’s much easier to connect
and remove. I've successfully destroyed hard-drive power con-
nectors with very little effort. Once, two of the female pins (the
ones on the power-supply connector) remained with the hard
drive when I pulled out a power connector.

The bottom line is this: We’ve got a long way to go before
plugging in a PC peripheral is as easy as plugging in a
Dreamcast. Maybe the PC companies should hire some nine-
year-olds, Now, if you'll excuse me, I think the Maalox bottle is
beckoning again.

The Dreamcast's controller plugs make connecting/disconiiecting controllers a no-hrainer - they just work. PC con-
nectors still suffer from bent and broken pins. They could learn a lot from their console brethren.

Shameless Plug

And speaking of plugs, i get lots
of email from regular readers ask-
ing me about information in past
columns. Now you can find a lot of
that information compiled in a sin-
gle place; my recent book. It's
called Building the Ultimate Game
PC, and is published by Brady. The
ISBN number is 0-7897-2204-6. If
you pick it up, drop me a line and
let me know what you think. 233

Video games may be graphic, but until you've played them with a set of Yamaha
I YST-MS30 speakers, you won't get the full picture. That’s because Yamaha’s exclusive Advanced Active
Servo technology elevates thundering explosions, bone-cracking punches and screaming race cars up

to catastrophic proportions. And just wait until you hear what this system can do for your
favorite MP3 and CD music. This is no time to be squeamish. Get a Yamaha YST-MS30
speaker system and experience the full force of your computer’s sound.

OiYAMAHA

rilE\to^CoMRTIR SmiDSaM).

eoMPUS/\

“Fij’s

HARDWARE

+Tecli Medics

IICH

IHI

Wounded on the technological front? Our medics may be able to patch you up and get you back into the action.
Send your gaming-related technical questions to cgw_hardware@2d.e0m.

One Gigabyte
Question

I was planning to buy a
Pentium-Ill 733MHz
processor, but AMD and
Intel just announced
processors at l.lGHz! Will
a P-IIl 733 be able to run
new games for the next
couple of years, or should
I wait till Christmas and
get one of these new
processors running at one
gigabyte?

This is an eternal question in a society
where the pace of technology outstrips
the pace of our salary increases. You
should know that CPUs that run at over
a Gigahertz probably won't be widely
available until summer or fall, and they
will be expensive. However, if you get a
733MHz CPU today, it will give you two
or more years of gaming pleasure. By
the time 1GHz arrives, we'll be talking
about 1.6GHz, and so on. At soma point,
you just have to put a stake in the
ground and tell yourself, “Now is the
time to buy."

LCD Displays

I am mightily tempted by
those 18-inch fiat-panel dis-
plays. However, 1 know that
some LCDs don’t handle reso-
lution resizing, and I’m also
concerned with the picture
quality. The laptop monitors
that I've seen don't look as
good as CRTs. So, if size
weren't an issue, would an
LCD be preferable to a CRT?

Desktop LCD monitors don't have the limita-
tions that many notebook PCs have. For
example, many notebook scroens simply use
the-actual number of pixels for a given reso-
lution. If the native resolution is 1D24x7G8,
and you run at 640x480. you get a pitifully
shrunken image in the center of the screen.
Desktop LCDs, on the other hand, nan inter-
polate pixels; this results in a slightly
“grainy" image, but it generally works well.
Note that oven good LCDs often lack the
color saturation and image quality of a good
CRT. though.

Celeron + 1820 = ?

Can I use a Celeron in an 820
motherboard, like the Asus
P3C-E or P3C-2000?

No. The 820 chipsets support a minimum
front-side bus clock rate of 100MHz. Since
current Celerons use a GBMHz FSD, it won't
run in an 820 motherboard.

Cool Running

I’m interested in putting
some additional cooling fans
in my PC case. How should
they be installed?

What you want is airflow through the case.
Power-supply fans in modern ATX-hased sys-
tems exhaust air out ot the case. So if you
place an additional tan in the front, make
sure it pulls air into the case. It you plane
the fan along the back panel, you can orient
it either way.

Mix n’ Match RAM

I was thinking about getting
some ECC SDRAM, but it
comes in different speeds
such as 6, 7, and at 8ns. I
have a chance to get a great
deal on a 6ns piece, but I
can only get one.

Can you mix RAM pieces
if they're different speeds?
Say they’re both PCIOO
SDRAM ECC DlMMs, except
one runs at 6ns, and the
other 8ns — will they run
together?

Yes. they'll both run tine, and both at
100MHz. The 8ns RAM may handle higher
front-side bus speeds than the 8ns, but if
you're not over-clocking, both run at the
same speed. The 6ns RAM is simply
capable of running faster.

, y£Q|*| YtP ^ adding

nnew hardware go a lot faster. If you
have plenty of space on your hard drive, take your Windows
98 CD, and copy the contents of the X:\Win98 (where X: is
your CD-ROM drive letter) folder to a folder on your hard
drive, like, oh, C:\Win98. By doing this, every time your
machine asks you for your Windows CD-ROM, you can just
point to this folder rather than having to go hunt the trickin'

CD-ROM yet again. And, when the day comes, and it always
does, that you have to reinstall Windows because your
machine is just too damned unstable to do any meaningful
gaming, you can actually run Windows setup from your hard
drive. Just remember to create a folder somewhere on your
hard disk and copy the contents of the C:\windows\com-
mand folder. That folder contains the DOS commands you’ll
need to nuke your old Windows folder and begin anew.

' 'vs Th-s,jy:/rJd's j-js'ssi 'JD
. V w-ids! sJbn

^'.•' 'fhs riibon ipsjsj-jj

Includes all the standard features of the
Hercules 3D Prophet DDR-DVI ' PLUS:

350 MHz Double Data Rate video memory
150 MHz GeForce 256 Core
Individual heatsinks on each memory chip
High performance cooling GPU fan & heatsink.

Seperate fan power source reduces noise and
lowers AGP bus power consumption.

What WOULD THE

I Jdd[udW

BECOME IF YOU TCXDK
THE GLOVES OFF?

Praise for past Falcon Northwest SE products:
“If traffic cops gave out speeding tickets
to video cards, the SE Xentor would

have its license revoked. " —

‘Computer Gaming World, Nov. '99

www.hercuies.com

Available exclusively in Falcon
Northwest custom Gaming PCs

1-888-FALCON-1 www.falcon-nw.com

"the Falcon VoodooS 3500SE is undeniably
the Jewel in the 3dfx crown "

K “the Falcon SE Xentor is a real

marvel of engineering"

^ -Sharky Extreme, Nov. '99

HARDWARE

YOUR TWO BEST RECIPES FOR BUILOING THE ULTIMATE GAMING MACHINE

I Monitor

' Mitsubishi DiatnondPro 2020u

Flight Joystick

CH F16 Combatstick USB

Logilei^ Wingman Extreme

□ Power Rig

Action Gamepad

Interact Hanimertiead FX

Gravis Gamepad USB

1 Component

Manufacturer

Pi ice

The Skinny |

Motlierboard

Asus P3C-1:

S200

AGP 4x

CPU

Intel Cooperniine 800

S730

It's the loo o1 the heap, for new

Memory

126MB of PC800 RDRAM

S850

RAMBUS

Iflisk Controller

Adantcc 29160

$260

Slinhilv laster. hut also has PCI 64 support

Primary Graphics

Hercules Prophet DDR-DVI

$300

DDR SDRAM and T&L siiDOort

3.5” Floppy Drive

Teac

$20

You still have to have one

Hard Drive

Oiiantum Allas 10k

$680

A screamer that runs a bit warm

Backup

Creatiye DVD-RAM driye

$599

5.2 pins of backuD

CD-RQM

Pioneer 6x SCSI DVD

$160

New Pioneer Slot Drive DVD

Monitor

Mitsubishi DiamondPfo 2020u

$1,250

Perfectly flat: oood USB support

Primary Audio

Sound Blaster Live Platinum

$175

For four-speaker OirectSoiind, A3D, and EAX

1 Sneakers

Boston Acoustics BA4800

$199

Loud, clean, iinoolorcd, and fabulous

Modem

SCom SDSL modem

$400

DSL at last

Networkirc

3COM Elherlink 10/100 PCI

$60

For franninti mv buddies

Nelworkino Hub

Netqear DS108

$170

MulliDlaver & DSL modem support

YY Minicube Case

Yeono Yann

$213

Lots ot coolinq

Power Suooiv

PC Power and Coolinn Turbocool 300

$89

More nower, Scotty!

Keyboard

Mlciosoft ffatiiral Keyboard Pro

$59

Swiicbed back fmm Looilecli

Mouse/Poinlinn Device

Microsoft Inteliimouse Explorer

$65

No balls!

mm Total w/o Came Cdnlrbtlerel $G,4t]il |

Flinht Jovstick

CH FIG Combatstlck USB

$65

It lust feels ripht

Rudder Pedals

CH Pro Pedals USB

$100

Neailv oerfect foot nlacemont

Driulno Controls

ECCI CDS 4CD0

$1,250

For the serious sim driver

Gamepad

Interact Hammerhead FX

$40

DualShock-like controller

1 Total $7,944 1

The Fin# PrinI: All recommendations based on acUial ovaliiatlons and lesling, Prices lislod ere averaflo low ttuoles (lom Web price search
engines like www.CDmpulorshopper.cDni or www.iiricewelch.com. - ilso eoniiillsi if Bm Silawf mil lofi Cist

H MAy ZDOO •

c gw , ga m es p a t .com • COMPUTER

GAMING

WORLD

■ Lean IViachine

Motherboard

Asus P3B-F

CPU

Pentium III/600E

Memory

128MB PC100 SDRAM

Disk Controller

Built-in UDMA/33

Primary Graphics

Guillemot Prophet (SDR)

I. Flonnv Drive Teac

H Hard Drive

tBM Deskstar 34GXP 13.1GB driv

CD-ROM/OVD

Pioneer DVD-114

Monitor

Optiquest 095

Primary Audio

Aureal SO25D0

Soeakers

Boston Acoustics BA-635

Modem

Actiontec PCI Call-Waitinn Mode

Case

Elan Vital TIO-AB

Power SupdIv

Built-in. 235W

Keyboard

Microsoft Internet Keyboard

Mouse/Pointinn Device

Lonitech USB Wheel Mouse

Jovsb'ck

Looitech Winqman Extreme Diqit

Gamepad

Gravis Gamepad USB

KILLER RIGS

Dell Dimension XPS 800

Want a full-bore gaming beast without having to build it?
We've got you covered. These two systems tested very

well and will put you into the fray ^ without your ever

having to charge-up your electric screwdriver.

Power Rig

Dell’s Dimensian XPS 8D0 impressed us with hoth its features and perfamiance. The
Pentium-Ill BODMHz system features a GeForce-based 3D card with 64MB of DDR
SDRAM, a set of Altec-Lansing THX-certified speakers, and 128UB of RDRAM. This
Dimension nailed a 30 GameGauge score of 62fps, the highest score we've seen to
date. At press time, Dell was quoting lead times of 7-ID days for these boxes, due to
the tight supply of RDRAM memory and Intel B20 chipsets, but its Dimension is
worth the wait.

■ $3,650 > (800) 915-3355 ■ www.dell.com

LeanMachme

Hypersonic was a first-lime entrant into our Ultimate Gaming Machine
roundup last December, but its Silver Bullet system came, saw, and kicked
ass in our "Bang for the Buck" category. The Silver Bullet is adorned with a
Pentium-ill BODMHz CPU, 128MB of SDRAM, Hercules' GeForce 3D card
with 32MB of DDR SDRAM, and a 15GB hard drive. This system comes in
at Just over $2,000, and for that price, it packs one helluva wallop.

Hypersonic Silver Bullet

■ $2,034 ■ (800) 520-0498 ■ www.hypBrsonic-pc.com

C hoosing the right 3D card
depends on your CPU and
your motherboard, so we
have two recommendations for
you:

If your CPU is a Pentium
233MHz or slower, or your
motherboard is ali-PCi (no AGP),
or you’ve got a motherboard-
down AGP graphics chip with no

$125 5 PCI slots, Spftmenu, 440BX - ready for the P-!ll

$445

$150 128M6, squeezed in

Gels the lob done

$225

$105

$99

$70

$30

Went for 32-bits T&L

Still gotta have it

IBM's low cost, fast drive

Slut-drive OVO

$350 Solid 19" monitor at a budget price

A3D and clean audio for under a C-note

Still the best Inw-cosI sneakers tioing

Solid performance, good price

Back to the old-familiar

Again, gets the job done

Cheap, nice add-on buttons

Belter than the ‘‘gaming" mouse

Cheap, but very solid 3D stick

Solid, basic gamepad

AGP slot, then get 3dfx’s Vaodao3
3000 PCI board. At just under
$150, the V3 3000 delivers great
price/performance, and will do a
very good Job with current
games, and a good job with
games coming out soon. And the
best part is that when you swap
in a new motherboard/CPU, you
can migrate the Voadoo3 board
to the new setup and use it there
until you decide to get an AGP-
based 30 card.

— ^ ; CRC6T'VC , - '

l-Ij

' /INNIHILATOH

\ PRO

V-'

UFsietlXl’nnfpd. MmilMnii lasmOmiteileiiiliia

If your rig’s motherboard
has an AGP slot, then go with
Creative's 30 Annihilator Pro,
which goes for around $270.
Admittedly pricey, this GeForce-
based board uses DOR SDRAM
memory to keep its four pipelines
fed and happy. If you can’t stom-
ach a $300 investment, then con-
sider Creative’s 30 Blaster TNT2

Ultra, which is available now for
around $150.

Even if you’re running a Pentium-
11 233 or 266MHz CPU, when you
upgrade motherboard/CPU, you
can migrate either of these cards
into your new setup - and
they’ve got room to grow with
whichever CPU you decide to use.

GET IT
TOGETHER

So how do you put all this stuff
together? Head over to Loyd's PC
Workshop page on GameSpot at
www.ganiGspot.com/features/pc_.
workshopB/ for step-by-step
instructions on how to get your
killer rig up and running.

125

HARDWARE

Speaker Roundiv

Midiland 7100

Cambridge

Yamaha YST-M3Q speakers

YAMAHA YST M3D
SPEAKERS

Price: $50

Manufacturer: Yamaha Corporation of America
Contact: www.y8maha.com

D esigning good, low-cost speakers is
as much an art form as an engineering
exercise. In most cases, there are too
many concessions made, and the YST-M30
is no exception. This three-speaker combo
- amplifier/bass cube and two small satel-
lites - delivers a mixed bag, with an odd
emphasis on mid-range.

On top of
that, our tOKHz
test tone

revealed nasty distortion at high frequen-
cies, creating very unpleasant effects. Bass
output is lacking, even with the “subwoofer"
control cranked up. The one positive is that,
at moderate volumes, the stereo imaging is
sharp and well-defined. Games do fare a lit-
tle better, but anything with loud explosions
gets distorted if the volume is above three-
quarters. If you watch DVD movies on your
PC, these aren’t the speakers for you.

We recommend spending a little more for
the Boston Acoustics BA-635s, or the
Yamaha YST-M28s. -Loyd Case

Photos by Hayden Houser/DIGITAL CLARITY

MIDIEAND710D

Price: $200

Manufacturer: MidiLand, Inc.
Contact; www.midiland.com

Y ou want loud? When I played the live ver-
sion of Bom in the USA, these speakers
got up to 105 decibels with some notice-
able clipping, and 103 decibels with clean audio.
It took a few minutes for my ears to recover.
Getting to that point, however, was like navigat-
ing the maze in the original ZORK. You have to
figure out what type of setup you want (Dolby
Digital? Four-channel game audio?). Once you
decide, you then
need to set an
unlabeted, four-
position dip switch. These speakers are crying
out for some form of digital input that will auto-
matically switch soundstream types. With most
PCI sound cards now having some form of digi-
tal audio output, digital input is now viable for

There is definitely some mid-range coloration.
The 7100's sound much better on rock/pop
music than purely acoustic jazz or classical. This
makes them ideal for games, though, and they
sound great when set up as a 4.1 system with a
3D sound card. DVD audio sounds pretty good,
too. At $200, they're not a steal, but if you have
a penchant for playing loud rock music - or just
pumping up the volume in QUAKE Hi - then
check 'em out. -Loyd Case

CAMBRIDGE SOUND
WORKS DIGITAL

Price: $10Q

Manufacturer; Cambridge SoundWorks
Contact; wwwJiifi.com

C ambridge SoundWorks originated the
idea of the very small satellites/woofer
combination, and its MicroWorks are still
some of the finest PC speakers available,
both tor clear uncolored sound and plenty of
volume. The low-end SoundWorks speaker
set - Cambridge’s original offering - delivers
good audio quality and impressive volume out-
put, but lack the
MicroWorks’
tonal clarity.

Cambridge has revisited this design, adding
digital-audio input to create the SoundWorks
Digital. The low-wattage rating of these speak-
ers - 8 watts per satellite and 22 watts for
the woofer - belie the SoundWorks’ volume
output. Despite developing good volume,
however, the SoundWorks still sound a bit
muddy playing music, although it's not as
noticeable with gaming audio. The S/PDIF
digital connection works as advertised, though
there wasn't any real difference between
using the digital or analog inputs. Long story
short, the SoundWorks sound good, but there
are other low-cost offerings that sound better,
like Boston Acoustics’ BA-635s or Yamaha's
YST-M28S, -Dave Salvator

To get the Maximum performance out of
a multi-user game, get off the Internet

and get on a D-Link lO/lOOMb Fast Ethernet Network. Up to 200 times
faster than the Internet, and 10 times faster than other legacy
networks. Easy to set up and install, a D-Link 10/100 Network In A Box
comes with everything you need to build a Windows 95/98 Network.

D-Link

www.dlink.com

Mi '/■

li.

miH

ICAMlWCj

1 Ji?-

j w

EDITORS'

m - j

CHOICE

KfijfSTiTiuK

1 il C

MJRltvTiji!

Prices and Specifications are subject to change without notice. D-Link is a registered trademark and DFE-905 is a trademark of
D-Link Systems, Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. ©Copyright 1999 D-Link Systems Inc. All rights reserved.

^ Tabletop?

I t's generally the other way
around, but believe it or not,
Bungle's MYTH universe has
been translated Into a Y2K compli-
ant version requiring only pencils,
paper, and some funny-shaped
dice. Steve Jackson Games has
converted this GClVHall of Fame
title into a GURPS (Generic
Universal Role-Playing System)
framework, allowing gamers to
create their own tabletop cam-
paigns and to play as their favorKe
characters. For gamers interested
in using Bungle's Fear & Loathing
tools for creating PC scenarios, the
book has a fairly detailed section
that should alleviate some of the
trepidation nascent designers
might feel employing such power-
ful tools. While it probably won't
tear diehard MYTH fanatics away
from their PCs, they might well
appreciate the nice iob the book
does fleshing out the game uni-
verse. Check out
www.biinjie.cnm/slore or
www.sjgiiiiics.com for more info.

nsidegHOMi

I Am a Social Leper

G aming is supposed to be a joy, an escape from llie day to day
cares of the world, where socially inept
misfits can believe for a few precious
hours that they really are Blaugh the
Gnome, warrior/mage supreme. It was true
in the Doritos-drunk AD&D weekends of
my high-school years, and it’s been
pretty much a constant during my
adult life as a computer gam-
ing shut-in— just one baby
step away from relying on
Meals on Wheels to keep
me fed. Until now. Until
THE SIMS. Until those
heartless bastards at
Maxis rubbed my face in my
pathetic loserness, and sucked all
the joy out of my worthless life.

So, other than losing the will to live, little in
my life has changed.

It started when I made the cardinal mistake of THE

SIMS— designing a Sim that more or less
approximated me. Along with looking into a mir-
/\rt Too ror after having a nice big bowl of Frosted Peyote Flakes for break-

fast, this is one of the worst missteps you can make with your life.
CIOSBiy My Sim, Ruben Kincaid, was an almost too-perfect digital doppel-

, . ganger, whose thirst for fun and neatness came at the expense of
nOSOmblQS any desire to have friends or engage in activity. Thus began Ruben’s
. tortuous slide into crippling virtual depression.

Life in JnE Even a Sim with a low Outgoing rating will eventually feel the
gnawing pangs of loneliness. While they might be able to stave off
SIMS the urge for companionship longer Chan the social butterflies of the

game, sooner or later they’re going to want a friend. You’ll find
them— as I did my poor, shattered Ruben— sobbing on the couch after
drugging themselves with long bouts of avid, but ultimately unsatisfying, cartoon view-
ing. My heart breaking for my little avatar, I had Ruben call up some neighbors, chinking
"This’ll fix things." It didn’t. Things got worse.

See, once the neighbors came over, they had a great time— eating, talking, and even
dancing. But they did it amongst themselves. Try as he might, Ruben could never suc-
cessfully engage his guests in conversation or activity. He literally stood by as they utter-
ly ignored him and his Social score plummeted. After a couple hours of pariahhood, Ruben
succumbed to the easy charms of the TV, driving his would-be friends away as he refused
to clean up the mess they made. After several hours of TV, Ruben passed out on the floor
in the wee hours of the morning. Thank God Will Wright didn’t include an option for sui-
cide, for I completely expected to see Ruben stick his head
in his brand-new oven, or throw himself in front of his car-
pool. I’m hoping a Sim psychiatrist moves nearby, before
Ruben lashes out and obliterates the neighborhood.

As much as I enjoy playing THE SIMS, it has— through no
lault of its own— damned me, Now my real-life days are a
pathetic, frantic charade of friendliness and vivacity as I
strive to avoid the fate of Ruben Kincaid. It’s killing me. I
can feel my cerebral cortex shriveling under the duress of
all this panicky gaiety. The dreadful aftermath of creating a
Sim-style Mini Me has plunged me deep into a steadily
sucking spiral of desperation, anxiety, and crying jags the
frequency and severity of which frighten my co-workers. Do
not make my mistake. Make your Sim a complete human or
face the horrific consequences.

All is darkness... .terrible, terrible darkness...

INSIDE GAMING

'finn

COMPUTER GAMING WORLD

A s you learned in the last installment,
I'm a notorious skinflint. I'll waste
hours each month digging through var-
ious bargain bins to see if any new titles have
fallen from grace. Most months I am greeted
with the typical dreck, but lately things have
become peculiar; Games are dropping to $20
or less only a few months after their release.

I struck the mother-

— „ , , lode when I found JACK

/. Dyn hncls nicklaus 6 : golden

^ BEAR CHALLENGE at

Lneap Uames CompUSA for five bucks.

, ^ . That’s right; five lousy

and a UOOf loof dollars for a gorgeous

r - f! 11 - r*/« jtryi 90 ^ 9®®® that is known

tor I Hb tDlIVlo! for its excellent course

editor. I've found over
200 user-made courses
since purchasing GBC, and that's just the
beginning. You can get everything from cus-
tom clubs to designer flags.

Fun as it is to play on real courses, some of
the fantasy courses available are stunning in
both their originality and execution. A favorite
is Manuel Kellner’s Gaulic Village, set in the
cartoon world of Asterix. I was introduced to

copy of SiN sitting next to GBC and bought it out of morbid
\ few hours of downloads later, I was having a blast The game
been patched into the realm of playability, and the few user-
made enhancements do much to address the remaining weak spots. Take the
guns, for example. A single-pump Red Ryder has more audio punch than most .
of the pea-shooters in the original release. Awesund's Awesound Pak amends
this deficiency nicely, as does Darklight2's KS-Sound files. My neighbors may .
never forgive me. These and other SiN mods are available at the SiN Post
(www.sinpostcom).

You can pick up a copy of JANE'S FLEET COMMAND for under S20 now. Be
sure to patch it and immediately go to the Warship Database Project site to
download an enhanced database. Tho site jumps around a lot, but currently is
located at members.xoom.eom/Warship100/WDP. Whatever you do, don't pass
up a bargain title just because it received lukewarm reviews. Chances are, in
the time it took the game's price to tumble, patches and mods were released
that change it into a worthy experience.

the world of Asterix in a college Frexteb class

and it makes a terrific setting for a golf
course. Each bole is populated with cbaiacters
from tbe comic, and I've encountered obsta-
cles ranging from a pack of wild boars moss-
ing the fairway, to a Roman legion blocking
tbe approach to a green. Every tree, bush,
rock, and background screen is replaced by
scanned images from various Asterix books,
and the end result is highly entertaining.

In fact, the only bad thing about Gaulic
Village is the 28+MB download. All GBC
course downloads are on the large side of
enormous, but most will leave you thinking
that a second GBC-dedicated hard drive isn't
such a bad idea. In any case, it beats paying
for course expansion CDs every few months.

Activision's Golden

Bears Den (www.golden-
bearsden.coiii) teems with
enough goodies to bring your
cable modem to its knees.
And if that's not enough, The
Course Depot
(virww.coursedepot.coin)
hosts a variety of excellent
GBC sites, including
Puhman’s Course Index.

More than 200 GBC courses
are available here, with full
reviews and screenshots
(equalling more than 2GB of
downloads, in case you have
a few months with absolute-
ly nothing to do...).

T. ByrI’s
Mix

1. UNREAL
: TOURNAMENT

ZNASCM RACING 3

3. PLANESCAPE:
TORMENT

4. BIONIC COMMANDO
for the Game Boy

■ Color

5. "If You Survive”
by George Wifson

t’

I n the days si yore, when all that stood between me and a date was my Commodore 64. 1
used to play a game called LITTLE COMPUTER PEOPLE. I femember playing poker with the
portly man inhabiting my television, wiping him out, and then sitting there In awe when
ho refused to play poker with me again for hours. Memories like that prompted my deci-
sion to buy THE SIMS tho second it hit the shelves.

I hate many things about THE SiMS— like

ParadiSB

the potked time model that makes every
‘ action take about an hour of simulated
time— but all quibbles aside. I'm still sitting
there every night until 3 3.m. waiting to see
what happens nexu

My main gripe is that only one neighborhood can be active at any one time, and I
don't want my wife reforming all the virtual slobs that reside in my little Hoovervilte. I
finally solved the problem with ZeBlester Systems Inc.'s GameStazer
{www.gamefalarer.com). It has a "Swap and Play" feature that lets any number of users
have their own neighborhoods. When THE SIMS is launched from the GameBlazer inter*

Jimner's

are added or removed before

the game begins, and everyone
is happy. The trial version lets
two users esiablish neighbor-
hoods for an unlimited time,
white a S20 two-year subscrip-

GameBIarer works similarly
with a number of other games,
like SVSTEM SHOCK 2, BAIQUR'S
GATE, and HOMEWORLO, with
support for new titles added
continually.

iiisssE”"'

NOT IN MV NEIGHBORHOOD GameBlazer lets you swap
' so gamers sharing a computer can each have

COMPUTER GAMING WORLD

MAY ROOD

129

INSIQE Q AMINS .

2. Pokimon Blue

BY THIERRY “SCOOTER” NGUYEN

Ilnside/iM ljTim

Smoking Barrel Be Damned!

Too Many Guns and Nat Enough Fisticuffs

T here’re too many guns nowadays. Lead-
shooting guns, energy-shooting guns,
guns that turn enemies into livestock,
guns that cause the Inner Macarena to emerge
from the target. ..it's just guns, guns, and more
guns. Of course, with "first-person sbootef
being the driving force behind this
column, it looks like I wouldn’t
have any room to complain.

Where the heck else can
the genre go?

One word;
melee.

Whether you
think of me as a
visionary or a
hack, you have to
admit: Guns are
nice, but they’re
hardly surprising
anymore. Everyone

has variants of gun archetypes such as sniper rifles,
shotguns, rapid-fire guns, and explosive-rocket guns.

Other excuses for gun-based weapomy include magi-
cal spells, psionic skills, or swords/axes/hammers
that somehow fling miniature versions of them-
selves toward flunkies. It's time to step away from
the “trigger a weapon to toss out a projectile"
and gel back to basics, whether we strip down
to bare fists or create weapons that call for
swinging rather than firing.

Why did 1 even think of melee in the first
place? Blame a combination of re-watching
Bruce Lee's Enier The Dragon and reading Stan
Sakai’s Usagi Yajimbo. Take a look at other media,
and you’ll find that melee matches often surpass
gunplay in terms of excitement. The Mathx had a few slick Hong-
Kong style gunfights and stop-time effects, but the heart of that
movie was the incredible martial arts scenes, such as Carrie-Ami
Moss’ acrobatics in the very beginning, or the amazing fight scene
between Keanu Reeves and Lawrence Fishburne, Swords have
always provided great entertainment, from early swashbuckling
Errol Flynn adventures to The Phantom Menace 's two-versus-one
bout of Darth Maul. Qui-Gon, and Obi-Wan,

Melee combat seems to elicit both a sense of vulnerabUity and
finesse. You have to actually get in-youi-face for such scenes, and
boy. getting kicked in the face sure smarts. The moments when you
land a blow seem a lot more rewarding than when firing off a gun
at a distance, which is why the final blow seems more climatic than
the final gunshot in a movie. On the other hand, guns are essential-
ly simple aim-and-shoot. If you're about to send me a letter about
the skill required to fire one, don’t. I've actually fired a few in real
life, but none of that skill is involved when using a gun in a com-
puter game.

The largest obstacle to the use of melee combat is the interface.
DIE BY THE SWORD was a fine sword-fighting game, but the inter-
face was way too complicated for most people to grasp, Guns
model an arm; melee would require a larger range of movement
and more body parts to model. I imagine that may be the reason
why the haramer-as-true-raelee idea for QUAKE got scrapped. Right
now, we'd either have to get more button-friendly, or work on

being dexterous enough to pull off
mouse-keyboard combos, Both JEDI
KNIGHT and HERETIC II did a good job with an easy-to-use yet
maneuver-filled system of melee combat using mouse and key-
board, URBAN CHAOS had a workable hand-to-hand system; I
wished the weapons hadn’t overpowered that aspect. Looking for-
ward, Bungie’s ONI and Infinite Machine's NEW LEGENDS (by JEDI
KNIGHT designer Justin Chin, no less!) look to be good candidates
to tackle the melee task.

There will always be more shooters with nifty guns that can kill
while serving you cocktaUs, and I'll still derive the same sick plea-
sure from sniping some poor halfwit a mile away. Yet, when a game
offers me the chance to feel the same sense of raw combat that
either Bruce Lee or Toshiro Mifune felt while engaging their oppo-
nents. I’m putting the gun down.

SIM JACKIE CHAN

GNI's melee combat may
be just the kick in the
head the action genre
needs.

Scooter’s

Mix

1. Developing antisocial athlete
Max Power to setfuce my Mend's
single-mother Cherise
Radoelnovich In THE SIMS.

3. The new Punisher comic book
miniseries from the Preacher team
(writer Garth Ennis and artist
Steve Dillon).

4. UNREAL TOURNAMENT

5. planescape: torment

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with Visa/MasterCa'rd SS
(North America onl^^M

■ Sixteen
unique species,
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and unique AI
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strategy game of epic galactic
yo: exploration, colonization and
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legendary predecessor. Whether you
choose to dive into the immense range
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simply focus on galactic exploration and
enemy destruction. Reach for the Stars’
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More than 30
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virtually unlimited play
via the Random Map
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Network play wiih simultaneous turns for
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g . AH itolils regejved-^1939 TLC Multimedia Inc. and Its ainiiales and licensors.
IcSiudles Group. Windows Is a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft
liter countries, All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders.

Who dares ignore the elves? For comments from the creators of DEUS EX. FALLOUT,
and SYSTEM SHOCK 2 on this column’s topic, as well as daily RFG news updates,
check out Oesslock's RPG News at desslock.g 3 mespot.CDm.

iPBlftDME MMKtB

161 f hem snihie Blues

ijeSslack@desslock.cQm

eis risk running
into an Ultima
IX' like problem
of spending a
ton of money on
an engine that
looks great but
doesn't work

well, reducing the likelihood of
recouping on the investment,

RPG developers have resort-
ed to licensing established
engines, especially since 3D
engines have become a com-
mercial necessity. Recently,
both New World Computing
and Interplay announced that they would be making RPGs based
on Monolith’s Lithtech engine. But it remains to be seen if an
engine developed primarily for action games can be effectively

I n six years, SSI released nine successive
Acfvanrxv/ Dungeons & Diagons games using
essentially the same engine. Nicknamed the
"gold box” series, the games are still widely
praised by RPG fans, even though the last game
was produced in the early 1990s.

The series certainly proved to be commercially
golden for SSI. as AD&D fans kept nabbing the
games off retail shelves almost as quickly as SSI could mass-pro-
duce them. It's hardly surprising that several RPG creators have
since vowed to create "the next gold box series." After all, what
company wouldn't want to defer the sizeable cost of creating a new
engine, and to consistently release profitable games using the .
same, proven technology?

But it’ll never happen again. ' •

Gamers' expectations have risen to the point where it's impossi- •.
ble to have another successful series that recycles the same tech- • ,
nology. Recent RPGs that reused their predecessors' engines have •'
garnered unenthusiastic receptions. Although FALLOUT 2 was con-'

The Next “Gold
Box” Series Isn't
Gonna Happen

2. Discovering the annoying
puzzle-based mission design
of Bungle's otherwise excel-
lent MYTH.

3. Lugosi's Dracula and
Karloff's Mummy and
Frankenstein on DVD.

4. Oscar Nomination Blues
(The Cider House Rules? Gah.
The overrated American
Beauty is SO going to win...)

5. MIGHT AND MAGIC VIU beta

transformed into a compelling RPG. i i •

. : The advantages of acquiring a proven engine may be offset by
the requirement to adapt someone else's technology to fit your .
game's design. When Valve licensed the QUAKE n engine, the
developers of HALF-LIFE reportedly had to modify over 70% of the
code, even though they were creating an action game. Ion Storm’s
RPGs based upon the QUAKE n engine (ANACHRONOX) and the
UNREAL engine (DEUS EX) are still not avaOable in spite of their
prolonged development, even though they started with established
3D engines.

SYSTEM SHOCK 2— which used a modified version of the THIEF
engine— is the only RPG released that uses a licensed engine, and
it's a largely action-oriented game itself. Its gaming world is also
indicative of another limitation of most current 3D engines: They
are incapable of depicting expansive environments. Even though
the MIGHT AND MAGIC VI engine is dated, it permits dozens of
enemies to be on-screen at once, and can render wide-open out-
door environments. Licensed 3D engines may help create more
beautiful gaming worlds, but those worlds will seem smaller and
less populated.

We’re in a strange interim period in computer gaming, when
spiffy 3D graphics have become necessary for commercial suc-
cess, and yet 3D-technology limitations are imposing restraints on
desigu and gameplay, especially for RPGs. While RPG
developers are understandably struggling with compet-
nfflH ing demands, genre fans are left waiting for a single
jjj^H product to finally get it all right.

HH It's enough to make you nostalgic for a gold box.

sidered by many gamers to feature gameplay that was as good as
that in the original, many reviewers were disappointed that the
engine was virtually unchanged.

But that doesn't compare to the hostile reception that MIGHT .
AND MAGIC vn received in Internet newsgroups after using the
same graphically-dated MMVI engine. And yet, New World
Computing decided to risk an even harsher reaction by opting to .
reuse the engine, yet again, for MIGHT AND MAGIC Vm. That deci-
sion is largely responsible for the game generating only slightly
more anticipatory buzz than a Pauly Shore summer-comeback flick.

Unfortunately, RPGs are particularly susceptible to being encum-
bered by prehistoric technology. While many action games can be
quickly assembled as soon as the graphics engine is complete, that
engine is only the preliminary foundation for an RPG. RPGs require
a more expansive g amin g world, with systems for character devel-
opment, inventory management, and NPC interaction: there are
often dozens— if not hundreds— of unique items, weapons, spells,
and characters. Even if an RPG's engine is initially impressive, by
the time all the mandatory features have been built in, the engine
will likely look stale compared to those in the latest shooters.

So what should RPG developers do?. Ideally, they would have the
financial backing and skill to develop an engine that suits their
unique needs. Unfortunately, the costs are formidable, and develop-

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AZORT Family

Consumer Graphics Boards Professional Graphics Boards Modems I Multimedia Accessories

Some Frightening Numbers in
the PC Sports Game Business

S tadium sports get the hard squeeze
on the PC platform, where hunting,
golf, and fishing games accounted for
close to 70% of total PC sports-game rev-
enue for 1999. Inside Gaming is almost
afraid to pubiish these numbers — we're
afraid that sports game companies will
see them and get out of the game entirely.

The Great American PasHmeP

Source: PC Data, Inc., Reston, VA (703) 435-1025

Sport

Unit share

°t ol total SS

Hunting

43.1%

38.7%

Golf

15.3%

19.8%

Football

7.2%

9.1%

Fishing

9.5%

7.7%

Baseball

5.4%

5.8%

Basketball

3.7%

4.2%

Hockey

3.1%

4.4%

Pool

2.7%

2.0%

Soccer

1.3%

1.6%

Wrestling

1.9%

1.5%

Rodeo

1.2%

Bowling

1.9%

1.1%

Winter Sports

0.2%

Skiing

0.2%

0.1%

Boxing

0.1%

Other Sports

2.8%

2.4%

T he fantasy baseball saga that
began almost a year ago ended
with a huge upset a four-game
sweep, and the crowning of the first
ever champion of the CGWHHBL the
Computer Gaming World \\\Q\\ HEAT
Baseball League. After more than 700
games played and simmed, the now-
legendary league opened the playoffs
with Chris Lombardi's miracle Angels
pitted against Robert Coffey's Yankees,
and George Jones' Red Sox matched
against Dave Salvator's Indians.

In the first round, the mighty Red
Sox machine handled the Indians 3-1
in four closely-contested games,
while the upstart Angels— who
weren't given a chance against the
Yanks— pulled off the upset of the cen-
tury by shocking a Yankees team that
thousands of fans considered to be
unstoppable.

In the division finals, however,
Jones' Boston squad pulled off a four-
game sweep of Lombardi's Angels.
Although three of the four games were
tightly contested, the Sox proved to
have too much power lor Anaheim's
beleaguered pitching staff, winning
each of the last three games with criti-
cal, come-from-behind home runs.

Rumors that Jones was allowed to
win the title because he is "our boss"
were quickly squelched by league
publicists, who are eager to begin pro-
moting the sophomore season of the
CGWHHBL

i George’s
Mix

j 1. THE SIMS

■ 2. Turn of the Century
by Kurt Anderson

3. HIGH HEAT 2001

4. Programming my
own personal radio
station at
www.launeti.cofn

5. Darwin's Radio 6/
Greg Bear

Diamond Legends Online

T he one problem with the current batch of PC baseball titles (see our preview on page IK) is that they

don't let us play with classic players. We can't draft a team with Babe Ruth, Johnny Bench, or Sandy ' ^
Koufax on it. Foxsports.com is partially fixing this with DIAMOND LEGENDS, their new online fantasy-
baseball sim. ■■.-(^ 1 '

DIAMOND LEGENDS allows you to draft from a huge roster of baseball legends and perform the usual range
of fantasy league management— setting up starting lineups, pitching rotations, and batting orders. You can
also try to create some home-field advantage by "drafting" one of over 65 home ballparks, including old- • . '
school stadiums such as the Polo Grounds.

One big difference in this fantasy league is that DIAMOND LEGENDS will actually simulate each game on
the schedule. This means that would-be Earl Weavers can specify all sorts of aggression levels for their
teams, from how soon their relievers will enter games to how often a team will hit-and-run. You can also
specify individual tendencies for certain players; a Ty Cobb can be told to be more aggressive on the base
paths than your overall team setting, or certain pitchers can be made more conservative, depending on
who's at bat

The only drawback in our minds is that in order to join a league, you have to pay $50. Plus, you get
charged SI on any day you make any sort of transaction. But for some of us, that's a small price to pay to be
able to engage in the ultimate fantasy league.

Check it out at fox.diamondlegends.com.

Inside Sports Solution Department

I n NHL 2000, when the score of the game is being dtsptaVed in the upper left-
hand corner, occasionally the name of one or both of the teams turns red,
along with the score. I can't figure out what this means and have been unable
I to find the answer on the Net.

— Steven Go

Steven, we asked Dave Warfield, the Producer of NHL
2000. Here's his answer:

The team names turning red in the score clock are indicators that the teams
are frustrated and/or angry, and someone may be dropping the gloves soon. This
would be a good time to get your enforcer on the ice.

€

MAY 2000 • cgw.gsm

' COMPUTER GAMING WORLD

igine /\clvent
f the World ^

In the northernmost reaches of the Forgotten Realms’ lies the frozen region known as Icewind Dale. ^
‘4 Journey deep into the Spine of the World mountains, a harsh and unforgiving territory teeming -
with fearsome and merciless beasts. There you must confront an ancient evil that t if'

, threatens to unleash an unspeakable horror upon the face of Faerun.

R eal-time combat lusinji the Baldur’s Gale adaplalion of Ihe Advanced
Dungeon.-; and Dragon's’ game system. Hattie Ice Trolls, Giants, and
hordes of terrifying Lhidead - over 70 types of new inoii.slers to put your
valor to the test.

A dventure through a wide range of breathtaking environments and
beautifully rendered, .scrolling terrain. E.xplore the region known as
Icewind Dale, from magnificent temples and ancient ntins, to volcanic
caverns and icy plains.

Icewird Dale fi 2000 Inlerp^y Esltrlainnwil Corp. All Rights Reserved. The BiowarslntlnityEngii)oei99a-19}9BlciwareCoip. All Rglits Reserved. IcavnndOale, FORQOTTEN REALMS. Ihe FORGOTTEN REALMS logo, ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, Ihe ADSDUgo,
Baidvis Gale. TSR and the TSR logo ere liedeneiu ot TSR, inc.. a eU>sldiary ot Waards of ihe Coesi. Inc., and ere used by Interplay iiiMer license. Bieck Isle Siixtos and the SlacK Isle Stodios logo are Irademarhs d Inlei^ay Enteitainmeni Corp. The Sioware Infinity Engine and
the Bioware Inflnity Engine logo are bademarks cf Bloware Corp. Exclusively licensed and dstribuled by Interplay Enlerlalnment Corp Ml olher trademarka and copyrights are proporty ol their respective owners.

INSIPB BAMIIM P^

136

COMPUTER GAMING WORLD

MAY 2000

Inside

iiMULJirioNS a spaci

BY GORDON BERG

Gordon
I Get
Online or
Get Lost

The Joy of Multiplayer

S ince this edition of CGW details the latest offerings in WW n
online aviation, I thought it would be fitting for this month's
column to touch on multiplay as well. Of course, I realize that
most of you have never known anything but the solo flight. Simply
compare the relatively-bigh sales figures for popular flight sims
with the relativelydow number of you actually found flying and
fighting online, and you’ll see what I mean.

(And such a comparison is nothing new, really—
the same point has long been made regarding
other genres that prominently feature multiplay-
Seys Get er gaming.)

^ Things are changing, though. Even if your

reclusive ways have kept you from shooting at a
live opponent so far, your choice of Al-controlled
computer opponents will dwindle in the years to
come, llnsert
favorite "flight-
sims are dead” arguments here, fol-
lowed by standard "all genres are
cyclicai" retort.]

Like it or not, more and more mul-
tiplayer sims ate stated for our imme-
diate future. For example, a promi-
nent Sim developer had plans with
more than one publisher to do vari-
ous sequel projects and follow-ups
related to the kinds of sims that
please the flight-sim community at
large. He ultimately saw all of his
contracts cancelled. It turns out that
the only way he could get funding
for any kind of venture was if it was
based on a massively-multiplayer
model. As he once told me, "Every
publisher and investor is willing to

spend a lot of money on anything online, no matter what. So while a
'packaged flight sim’ is considered very 'high risk' and no one is
willing to spend a dime on it, they are more than willing to throw

grognard@concentric.net

sims competing for your dollar. Glass
half-full drinkers are now thinking,

"Having so many choices can only ben'
fit the consumer," while those of the
half-empty persuasion ponder, “Great. These multiplayer WW n
sims will cannibalize each other, just like all those boxed retail ver-
sions of the WW II European theater a year and i half ago."

Personally, I wouldn't necessarily mind an all-multiplayer future if
it turns out that way. I spend more time flying sims online than
offline, for one very simple reason: the social factor. In-game voice
chat utilities like Roger Wilco have forever changed my online expe-
riences, and the next version of DirectX is going to incorporate the
similar function of Battlefield Communicator for free. So if multi-
player-only ends up being the only way I can fly a next-generation

If you've never given
online flying a chance,
you’re really missing
out. Therefore, your
mission this month is
to get your butt up
into the virtual air and
to engage, or coopera-
tively fly with, another
human, Take baby
steps first. Try your
favorite offline sim
online for a change,
sudh as EAW via
Microsoft's Zone.com,
or USAF over at Jane's
Combat.net
(wvin«.Jane8.ea.com).
Then find a pay service
that sports a huge

'‘liinijr into the senry online siiii y/orld at places i

Gordon’s

Mix

1. All of the online
- WW II sims

2. FIGHTER
SQUADRON:
SCREAMIN DEMONS

f - OVER EUROPE
(w/Plane Pack 5.3)

\ ■ 3. RED BARON 3D
(w/Beer/s latest
effort)

I S. DVD rentals from
Netflix.com

even more money at an 'online flight
sim,’ just because it's online. It’s really
screwed up."

Consequently, there will soon be at
least seven different WW II online-only

multiplayer arena and look for a free trial membership. (I think
these large games are the most fun, so no excuses!) Try out one of
the real-time voice utilities if you can. Then, report back to me with
your experiences. Was it a positive encounter, or did it royally suck?
Easy to get up-and-flying, or a major pain in the ass? If enough of
you write in, maybe a trend can be spotted and we can “discuss."
Otherwise, I'll just end up forging the letters myself, and you don't
want that on your conscience.

When not engaged in aerial maneu-
vers, Gordon Berg works as a network
administrator for a non-profit social
services organization.

You can have my Thrustmaster when you
pry it from my cold, dead fingers. . . ^

W hen it comos to joysticks, everyone's got a favorite. Getting someone to switch

over to a new brand is tantamount to askirrg thorn to change their religion, politics, J|

or operating system. Personally, I’ve always been a CH boy myself, but I sympathize ~
with the Thrustmaster faithful. Needless to say, it didn't go over too well when the TM high-end
line of joysticks was discontinued, thus ensuring no more commercially available F-22 Pros, FLCS
sticks, or the ever-popular TQS throttles. (Indeed, high-end Thrustmaster HQTAS gear has become quite
the hot ticket on the auction sites. Contributing editor Loyd Case sold a set for S400t) So, in this day

and age of digital USB connections, what’s a poor Thrustmaster (er, now Guillemot) l|

user to do with their aging analog sticks? Glad you asked. Head over to Bob B

1 ^ Church’s site, www.stickworks.com (of CTFJ utility fame), and read up on
the SWF22 Digital Upgrade Kh. Essentially, you install a new chip into
your gear that allows for digital-mode operation under Windows,
improved stability, and increased functionality. ^

Technology is a playground.

Reviews | Shopping | Business Help News Investing GameSpot | Tech Life Downloads Developer

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ADVERTISER INDEX

BDIx

3Dfx

24-25

3D0 Company

High Heal Baseball 200t

32-33

300 Company

Army Men World War

54-55

Might & Magic VIII

71,73, 75, 77

Sammv Sosa Sollball

9B9 Studios

EverQuest

34-35

Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force

AlCS

Distance Education

142

Allenware

Ultra Fast Gaming Machines

Blizzard Entertainment

Diablo II

4-5

Chips & Bits

www.cdmag.com/chips.hlml

138-139

Codemaslers

Colin McRae Rally

111

Creative Labs

Sound Blaster!

107

D-Link

D-Link Networkino Kit

127

Dell Computer Corporation

Dimension & Inspiron Linos

C3-C6

EA Sports

Need for Speed 5; Porsche Unleashed

60-61

40-41

Eidos Interactive

Deus Ex

50-51

Hitman

Eidos Interactive

Thief II: The Melal Age

20-21

Electronic Arts

The Sims

14-15

The Sims (Rosier)

97-100

Erazor X

133

Falcon Northwest

Talon

123

Game Cave

www.eipre88.com

141

Unreal Tournament

56-57

Imperium Galactica

26-27

GT Interactive

Team Alligator

Baldur's Gale II

2-3

Interplay Productions Inc.

Evolva

6-7

Interplay Productions Inc.

Icewind Dale

135

LucasArts Entertainment Company

Slar Wars: Force Commander

6-9

Allegiance

Slar Lancer

30-31

Motocross Madness II

Midnight CD

142

Red Storm Entertainment

Rogue Spear Mission Pack: Urban Operations

113

Monster Sound

117

Vperll

lOsix

44-45

Ground Control

C2-1

Sierra On-Lino

Homeworld Cataclysm

16-17

Throne of Darkness

Arcanum

93, 95

Pool of Radiance

18-19

SSI (Mattel Interactive)

Earth 2150

78-79

Warlords Baltlecry

108-109

SSI (Mattel Interactive)

Reach For The Stars

131

Pre-Orders/Ncw Releases

115

Yamaha Corporation of America

Speakers

121

CHAIB«H4r< <WD CEO

ERIC HIPPEAU

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COMPUTER GAMING WORLD * MAY 2000

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EVER. Upr

by Jeff Green

My Job Does Not Suck

□n I’m Sorry This Column Is LatE Again and Please Don't Fire Me

I am not a cranky guy. Really. I enjoy life, when not
sober, and I like my job a lot— especially on
Mondays when George brings donuts. But when I
look back on what I’ve written in this magazine lately,
both on this page and in various reviews, I see nothing
but whining and complaining — broken up by the occa-
sional bit of narcissism and self-congratulation.

Such crankiness might be understandable if I were
working for, say, Proctology Today magazine, or Fungus
World. But dangit, these are computer games— this is
supposed to be fun. Of course, when you look at what
I’ve had to write about, my bad mood becomes much
more understandable.

The last three games on my plate have been ULTIMA
IX, CRUSADERS OF MIGHT AND MAGIC, and INTERSTATE
82 — a veritable Larry, Curly, and Moe of computer gam-
ing incompetence. One more game as bad as these, and
I might have reapplied for ray previous job testing
modems for the Mac. Or the job before that, dancing
naked to cowboy music.

So I have decided to change course this
month. To fight back, as it were, and accentu-
ate the positive. To remind myself how good I
have it here. What I present to you this
month, for your sake and mine, is a list of all
the cool things about working at Computer
Gaming World. Those of you who have always
suspected that this job is ridiculously easy
and fun— here's where I come clean. I know
that in the past I've whined about how hard
it is, how much pressure is on us all the time, how little
we get paid. But, honestly, that was just a cheap ploy to
elicit sympathy email from attractive women. In truth, I
love my job. Here's a few reasons why.

Free games.

Big surprise, huh? Yeah, this will never get old. I've
been here for over three years, and I still get as giggly
as a little girl when the new pile of games arrives. True,
I'm always as giggly as a little girl, and sometimes I like
to dress up and call myself "Princess Sissypants," but
that’s not really any of your business, is it?

No need for discipline, maturity, or self-control.

Imagine recess at nursery school. Then imagine all the
kids on five espressos each. Add to that a roomful of
games and no adult supervision. This is Lord of the
Flies, with paychecks,

A chance to mingle with gaming gods.

Not to brag or anything, but I’m on a first-name basis
with some of the greatest game designers on the plan-
et: Sid, John, Will, Derek, Lord— the list goes on and on.
Someday I'd like to meet those people for real, but until
that day, I continue to have the most amazing personal
conversations with their lifesize cardboard cutouts in

ray basement. Now, if only my mom would stop inter-
rupting me!

A chance to watch Scooter grow up.

Go look at this guy's picture in the Inside Gaming sec-
tion. What is he, 12 years old? Does any other magazine
have an editor on staff with a milky bottle? Seriously,
the chance to help mold and shape Scooter makes me
understand how Dr. Frankenstein must have felt. By the
time we’re done with him— no “dating" or "going out-
side" or "having a life" for Scooter!— my fellow editors
and I will have transformed this once-promising young
man into something we can be proud of: the world’s
ultimate gaming dork.

Scaring people in the elevator.

Our office is in the Bechtel building. I don’t know who
those people are or what they do, but they look serious
and I don't think they play games. They wear sunglass-
es indoors and they don't smile. They might be working

with aliens. In any case, imagine what is going on in
the head of the poor sap who steps into the elevator on
his way to the meeting in Block 7G, only to be confront-
ed by a clan of disheveled misfits, shouting things like:
"Only wussies use sniper rifles. Use the flak cannon
instead — you can easily mow everyone down in sec-
onds!" or "Last night BeJJa kept peeing in my living
room! And her husband kept trying to kiss me!"

No perceivable line between work and play.

Let me guess, there is someone in your home who
thinks you waste too much time on games. I hear you,
brother. Before I worked here I was just another
oppressed gamer, trying to get his daily fix while get-
ting yelled at to do things like clean the house, pay
attention to loved ones, or bathe. Now I have the built-
in, socially-sanctioned excuse of having to "work.” As a
matter of fact, as far as my wife knows. I’ve been work-
ing on the HEROES OF MIGHT AND MAGIC III review for
nine months now. Please don’t tell her. I'm begging you.
I've worked too hard to give it up now.

Jeff would like to dedicate this month's column to one
of his childhood idols, Mad magazine's late, great Don
Martin. Send email to jeff_green@zd.com.

^The last three games on my plate have been
ULTIMA IX, CRUSADERS OF MIGHT AND MAGIC, and
INTERSTATE 82 - a veritable Larry, Curly, and Moe
of computer gaming incompetence.

Computer Gaming World (iSSN 0744-6667) is published monthly by ZD Inc. 26 E. 2Btli Street, New York, NY 10016, Subscription rale is $19,97 for a one-year subscription (12 issues).
Canada and all other countries add $16,00 for surface mail. Postmaster; Send address changes to Computer Gaming World, P.O. Box 57167, Boulder, CO 80328-7167. Canadian GST legis-
tration number is 89371 0442 RT. Canada Post Internalionaf Pub's Mail Product (Canada Distribution) Sales Agreement No. 1050649, Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY 10016 and

dell calls it
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luckily, that’s
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my computer
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Dell” desktops received an "A" rating
for service and reiiability for the
4fh consecutive year.*

DELL" DIMENSION " Lssor j

Affordable Desktop Solution

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■ 15" (13.8" vis) E550 Monitor

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■ SoundBlaster 64V PCI Sound Card ■ PC Speakers

■ V.90 56K Capable'' PCI DataFax Modem for Windows"

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■ MS* Windows* 98, Second Edition

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a technician can be sent to your home. It's called Next-
Business-Day At-Home Service^ and it's available with
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iK»LL4ine«com

pick up your phone, pick up your mouse. 800 . 876.1410 www.deil4me.com

Pentium®///

"Moiitlil, payiirerits based on 13.99'',. APB, APB FOB OUALiplEO CUSTOMEBS VARIES BV CREDITWORTHINESS OF
CUSTOMEf? AS DETERMiNCD BY DELL FINANCIAL SERVICES L.P. Taxes & cliaryes extra, ami vary; they

are due with 1st jjaymeut unless included in the iiinomil financed. Purchase Plan irom Dell Financial Services L.P.
to U.S. state residents (inciudinii D.C.) with apiiroved credit, excluding AR and MN residents. Availahilily may he
limited or offer may vary in other stales.

* PC Magazine, 7/99

bringing great
values home.

De[l4me" is all about helping you get the most out of your PC. Here
are some of the latest services and resources designed for business,
pleasure, and education that we're putting behind our pledge:

CAMERAS AND SCANNERS. Build a photo archive on your
hard drive and toss out that old shoebox stuffed with photos.

Then use our online services and resources to send pictures
to anyone by e-mail.

NEXT-BUSINESS-DAY SERVICE* is available with every
Dell"' Home System, call 24x7 for a tech to troubleshoot with
you over the phone. If hardware support is needed, a
technician can be sent to your home.

PAYMENT OPTIONS. Each of our customers has different
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INTEL PENTIUM' III PROCESSORS with speeds up to
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DELL" NOTEBOOKS:

DELL"' INSPIRON" 3800

Design and Affordability

■ NEW Intel’ Celeron'' Processor at 450MHz

■ 12.1" SVGA Active Matrix Display

■ 32IV1B SDRAM

■ 4.8GB* Ultra ATA Hard Drive

■ Modular 24X Max CD-ROM

■ 2X AGP SMB ATI RAGE Mobility'“-M1 3D Video

■ 3D Positional Sound with Wavetable

■ 32WHr Nickel Metal Hydride Battery (NiMH)

■ MS’ Works Suite 2000

■ MS" Windows’ 98, Second Edition

■ 1-Yr Limited Warranty*

■ 1-Yr Next-Business-Day On-site Service*

1^00 ^A5lowasS4VMo-.fot48Mos:
•if W E -VALUE CODE: B9745-800414

DELL" INSPIRON" 5000

Performance and Mobility

■ NEW Intel’ Pentium’ III Processor at SOOMHz

■ 14.1" SXGA-f Active Matrix Display

■ 32MB SDRAM

• 6.0GB* Ultra ATA Hard Drive

■ Modular24X Max CD-ROM

■ 2X AGP 4MB ATI RAGE Mobility'"-P 3D Video

■ 3D Positional Sound with Wavetable

■ 52WHr Lithium Ion Battery

■ Internal 56K Capable" V.90 Fax Modem

■ MS’ Works Suite 2000

• MS' Windows’ 98, Second Edition

■ 3-Yr Limited Warranty*

■ 3-Yr Next-Businoss-Day On-site Service*

^ lOOO £^Aslow4sSB5,'Mo..<or4SMos:

•4^9 M W ^ ’^C-VAIUECOD£:B9745-B004ig

DELL " INSPIRON " 5000

Performance and Mobility

■ Intel' Pentium’ HI Processor at 6OOMH2
Featuring Intel' SpeedStep'" Technology"

■ 15" SXGA-F TFT Active Matrix Display

■ 64MB SDRAM ■ 6.0GB* Ultra ATA Hard Drive

■ Modular 24X Max CD-ROM

■ 2X AGP SMB ATI RAGE Mobility '“-P 3D Video

■ 3D Positional Sound with Wavetable

■ 52WHr Lithium Ion Battery

■ Internal 56K Capable* V.90 Fax Modem

■ MS' Works Suite 2000

■ MS' Windows* 98, Second Edition

■ 3-Yr Limited Warranty'

■ 3-Yr Next-Business-Day On-site Service*

C OftOO AslDwasS7^/Mo..for48Mos:•

♦+'■“^^ " E*VALUECODf;89745-800425h

DELL " DESKTOPS

DELL'* DIMENSION * L466cx II DELL"* DIMENSION * Lssor

Affordable Desktop Solution

■ Intel^ Celeron " Processor at 466MHz

■ 32MB SDRAM

■ 4.3GB' Ultra ATA Hard Drive

■ 15" (13.8" vis) E550 Monitor

■ Intel* 3D AGP Graphics

■ 40X Max CD-ROM Drive

■ SoundBlaster 64V PCI Sound Card

■ PC Speakers

■ V.90 56K Capable' PCI DataFax Modem
for Windows*

■ MS' Works Suite 2000

■ MS* Windows® 98, Second Edition

■ 3-Yr Limited Warranty' ■ 1-Yr At-Home Service'

<t ^OO ^T5kAslowa3$22/Mo.,for4SIV1os.’'
. 4 )# WW '*^£-VALUECODE;89745-500407

DELL” DIMENSION" xpST700r

High Performance, Great Value

■ Intel* Pentium' III Processor at 700MH2

■ 64MB SDRAM ■ 20GB' Ultra ATA Hard Drive

■ ATA 66 Controller Card

■ 17" (16.0" vis, .28dp) E770 Monitor

■ 16MB ATI RAGE 128 Pro

■ 48X Max CD-ROM Drive

■ Turtle Beach Montego' II ASD"" 320V
Sound Card

■ Altec Lansing' ACS-340'" Speakers with
Subwoofer

■ V.90 56K Capable' PCI Telephony Modem
for Windows’

■ MS' Works Suite 2000

■ MS' Windows' 98, Second Edition

■ 3-Yr Limited Warranty' ■ 1-Yr At-Home Service'

<t 1^00 r5fcAslowii5S4iyMo..tnr48Mos!’
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Affordable Desktop Solution

■ Intel' Pentium* III Processor at 550E MHz

■ 64MB SDRAM

■ 4.3GB* Ultra ATA Hard Drive

■ 15" (13.8" vis) E550 Monitor

■ Intel’ 3D AGP Graphics

■ 40X Max CD-ROM Drive

■ SoundBlaster 64V PCI Sound Card

■ PC Speakers

■ V.90 56K Capable* PCI DataFax Modem
for Windows’

■ MS® Works Suite 2000

■ MS’ Windows* 98, Second Edition

■ 3-Yr Limited Warranty* ■ 1-Yr At-Home Service'

<t QOO Aslowa5S25/Mo.,far4BtVlos."
. 4 ) 0 ^ iT ^ E-VALUE CODE: 89745-500409

DELL" DIMENSION" XPSBsoor

Cutting Edge Technology

■ Intel’ Pentium* III Processor at 800EB MHz

■ 128MB RDRAM ■ 30GB' Ultra ATA Hard Drive

■ 17" (16.0" vis, .24 -.25AG) P780 FD
Trinitron’ Monitor

■ 32MB NVIDIA geFORCE 4X AGP Graphics

■ NEW 12X Max DVD-ROM Drive

■ SB Livel Value Digital

■ Altec Lansing' ACS-340'" Speakers with
Subwoofer

■ V.90 56K Capable' PCI Telephony Modem
for Windows'

■ MS’ Works Suite 2000

■ MS’ Windows* 98, Second Edition

■ 3-Yr Limited Warranty' ■ 1-Yr At-Home Service'

<i*O^00 4n5fcA5lowosS68/Mo..lor48MGs;'
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DELL™ UPGRADES:

SOFTWARE & PERIPHERALS

Printers:

■ HP' OfficeJet' T65, add S499

■ HP’ DeskJet* 970Cse, add S399

■ HP’ DeskJet’ 952C, add S299

■ NEC Superscript 870, add S285

■ Epson Stylus Color 860, add $199

■ Epson Stylus Color 740, add $149
Scanners:

■ HP' ScanJet' 6300Cse, add S399

■ HP* ScanJet* 4200Cse, add $179
Power Supply;

■ APC Back-UPS Office 400, add $99
Software:

■ Family Fun 5-Pack, featuring Roller
Coaster Tycoon."'* add $99

SERVICES

Service Upgrades:

■ DeiT" Dimension'" Premier 3-Yr At-Home
Service', add $99

■ Dell" Inspiron’" 3800 Notebook

3-Yr Next-Business-Day On-site Service,'
add $149

Payment Solutions;

■ Dell'" Platinum Visa Card

• Dell" 48 Month Purchase Plan’'

■ Dell'" E-Check

(automatic checking withdrawal)

Internet Service;

■ 1-Yr Dellnet" Internet Access’* with 20MB
of Online Access Backup,'' add $99

Pentium*///

'incliities 150 hrs./iiiniith, plus
SI .50/hr. {or fraction) over 150 hours.
#800/888/877 access charged
S4.95/lir. extra. Excludes taxes and
telephone charges. Additional
Sl.OO/hr. surcharge in HI and AK.
''Monthly payments based on
13.99% APR. APR FOR QUALIFIED
CUSTOMERS VARIES BY CREDIT-
WORTHINESS OF CUSTOMER AS
DETERMINED BY DELL FINANCIAL
SERVICES L.P. Taxes & shipping
charges extra, and vary; they are
tine with 1st payment unless
included in the amount financed.
Purchase Plan from Dell Financial
Services L.P. to U.S. stale residents
(including D.C.) with approved
credit, excluding AR and MN resi-
dents. Availability may he limited or
offer may vary in other states.

'Prices, specilicalions, and availahility may
chanpo without notice. Toxos and shippinp
charges extra, and vary. Cannot be combined
with other offers or discounts. U.S. only. ‘For a
copy of Guarantees or Limited Warranties,
write Doll USA LP., Alin: Warranlias, One Doll
Woy. Round Rock, Texas 78682. 'At-Home
01 on-siiD service provided via third-oarty
contract with customer. Avaiiability varies.
Technician will bo dispatched, if necessary,
following phone-based troubleshooting. To
receive Nexl-Businoss-Oay service, Dell
must iiolify the service provider before 5pm
Icustomer's lime). Ollier conditions apply.
'For hard drives, GB means 1 billion bytes;
accessible capacity varies with operating
environment. 'Download speeds limited to
53Kbps. Upload speeds are loss laboul
30Kbpsl and vary by modem manufacturer
and online cenditlons. Analog phone line
and compatible server required. "Online
backup services provided by third-party
agreement with the customer. Limited to
20MB of storage; addilional space available
at additional charge. Dell is not rosponsihle
for lost data. "Soltware, packaging and
documentation differ from retail versions.
"Based on Intel AGP 4X Graphics Test and
Plailorm Bandwidth Test. "Tho processor
may bo reduced to a lower operating speed
when operating on battery power. Intel,
the Intel Inside logo, and Pentium arc
rogisierod trademarks; Intel SpeedStep and
Celeron are trademarks of Intel Corporation.
MS, Microsoft, IntelliMousc, and Windows
are registered trademarks of Microsoft
Corporation. HP and OoskJet aro registered
trademarks of Hewlett-Packard Corporation.
Trinitron is a registered iradomark of Sony
Corporation. ©2000 Dell Computer Corporation
All rights reserved.

iK»LL4me«com

pick up your phone, pick up your mouse. 800.876.1410

www.dell4me.com

New Dell” Dimension” XPS B800r.
The need-for-speed solution.

DELL” DIMENSION” xpsB800r

The Nccd-for-Speed Solution

■ Intel* Pentium* III Processor at 800EB MHz

■ 128MB RDRAM ■ 40GB" Ultra ATA Hard Drive

■ 19" 118.0" vis, .26dp) M990 Monitor

■ 32MB NVIDIA geFORCE 4X AGP Graphics

■ 12X Max DVD-ROM Drive ■ SB Livel Value Digital

■ Harman Kardon HK-595 Surround Sound Speakers
with Subwoofer

■ V.90 56K Capable'^ PCI Telephony Modem for Windows'

■ MS' Works Suite 2000

■ MS' Windows* 98, Second Edition

■ 3-Yr Limited Warranty" ■ 1-Yr At-Home Service*

<t OAOO AslDwasS74/Mo.,for4BMos:

c-VALUE CODE: 89744-500428b

Congratulations. You just left Bob and his computer
back there about a half a mile, standing in a cloud of your
dust. Meanwhile you're cruising at Mach !l thanks to
the new motherboard and inteT' processors with speeds
up to 866MHz. In addition, the B-series RDRAM memory
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"Wlonliilv iiavniciils hascli ou 13.99% APR, APR FOB QUAUflED CUSTOMERS VARIES BY CREDITWORTHINESS OF
CUSTOMER AS DETERMINED BY DELL FiNANCIAL SERVICES L.P. Taxes & ship|iiii9 cliargos extra. ainl vary; they are line
with 1st iiiivincnl unless iiiclucietl in llio aniDutit financed. Piirciiase Plan from Dell Fninnciul Services LP. to U.S. state
residents (iiicliiiting D.C.) with apptovoil credit, excluding AR and MN. residents. Avnitnhilily may be limited or offer may
vary in other slates.

Pentium”///

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